Publication: Gender Based Violence and the Law
Date
2017-01
ISSN
Published
2017-01
Author(s)
Abstract
The phenomenon of gender-based violence
is pervasive around the world, experienced by some one in
three women in their lifetimes. The elimination of such
violence has been increasingly recognized as a priority for
the international community. This paper investigates the
potential and shortcomings of legislative action – and how
international and national laws can interact with norms in
ways that can be conducive to the reduction of the risk of
violence. We argue that there has been major progress in
establishing the right of women to live free of violence in
both international and national law, especially over the
past decade or so, with civil society movements at the local
and global levels playing a pivotal role. At the same time,
there is some way to go to address the underlying norms and
behaviors associated with violence. The investigation sheds
some light on broader debates about the value of
international human rights law. Some regard international
agreements and conventions as toothless, others point to
evidence that these have helped to mobilize women’s groups.
One channel of effects could be the following. International
laws and norms set out standards of behaviour that are
regarded as appropriate by a critical mass of nation-states,
and such norms affect domestic policy making along a variety
of causal pathways, including standards for domestic
legislation, creating standards for global civil society to
both advocate and monitor, and mobilizing domestic civil
society around these new shared expectations of individual
and state behavior. The paper is structured as follows. The
outline the significance of gender-based violence, globally
and regional and country patterns. This is followed by an
examination of the international legal framework. Our review
highlights the important role of civil society, and
especially women’s groups, both in terms of bringing about
reform and monitoring implementation. The focus of this
paper is on intimate partner violence directed at women –
that is psychological and emotional, as well as physical and
sexual violence, inflicted by a spouse, live-in partner or
boyfriend.Intimate partner violence comprises the bulk of
gender-based violence in all countries around the world.
Citation
“Klugman, Jeni. 2017. Gender Based Violence and the Law. World Development Report Background Paper;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26198 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”