Violence against women: law and its limits

In: Deusto Journal of Human Rights, Heft 1, S. 145-173

Abstract

This article considers the power and limits of law to address violence against women in semi-liberal, rapidly modernizing, and highly unequal «BRICS and beyond» regimes. While rights optimists laud law's power to establish norms and accountability, feminist critics decry inherent gender bias and inappropriate diffusion. To advance the debate, I argue that the balance will depend on specific features of law: architecture, access, and enforcement. The essay traces the influence of these barriers to gender justice in a series of cases, and suggests that mobilization to transform or supplement these features of law is the most constructive response.Received: 25 July 2016Accepted: 30 November 2016Published online: 11 December 2017