Reconciling Restorative Justice with the Law for Violence Against Women in Europe

Author(s):  
Theo Gavrielides

Violence against women (VAW) has slowly found its place in many international policies and conventions. The objectives, enforceability and foci of these international initiatives vary depending on a number of factors including political, sociological, economical and legal. However, they share one common feature. They are all based on the legal positivistic understanding of delivering justice. This chapter accepts this understanding and moves on to argue that what is also undeniable is that justice has a normative concept that is universal truth. The chapter proceeds to illustrate that Restorative Justice (RJ) outside the law has, is and will continue to manifest itself even for VAW cases. Ultimately, the chapter aims to contribute to the book's general objective of advancing the multi-dimensional growth of therapeutic jurisprudence with a gender sensitive and gender focused approach.

Author(s):  
Zorica Saltirovska Professor ◽  
Sunchica Dimitrijoska Professor

Gender-based violence is a form of discrimination that prevents women from enjoying the rights and liberties on an equal level with men. Inevitably, domestic violence shows the same trend of victimizing women to such a degree that the term “domestic violence” is increasingly becoming synonymous with “violence against women”. The Istanbul Convention defines domestic violence as "gender-based violence against women", or in other words "violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately." The situation is similar in the Republic of Macedonia, where women are predominantly victims of domestic violence. However, the Macedonian legal framework does not define domestic violence as gender-based violence, and thus it does not define it as a specific form of discrimination against women. The national legislation stipulates that victims are to be protected in both a criminal and a civil procedure, and the Law on Prevention and Protection from Domestic Violence determines the actions of the institutions and civil organizations in the prevention of domestic violence and the protection of victims. The system for protection of victims of domestic violence closely supports the Law on Social Protection and the Law on Free Legal Aid, both of which include provisions on additional assistance for women victims of domestic violence. However, the existing legislation has multiple deficiencies and does not allow for a greater efficacy in implementing the prescribed measures for the protection of victims of domestic violence. For this reason, as well as due to the inconsistent implementation of legal solutions of this particular issue, the civil sector is constantly expressing their concern about the increasingly wider spread of domestic violence against women and about the protection capabilities at their disposal. The lack of recognition of all forms of gender-based violence, the trivial number of criminal sentences against persons who perform acts of domestic violence, the insufficient support offered to victims – including victim shelters, legal assistance, and counseling, and the lack of systematic databases on domestic violence cases on a national level, are a mere few of the many issues clearly pointing to the inevitable conclusion that the protection of women-victims of domestic violence is inadequate. Hence, the functionality and efficiency of both the existing legislation and the institutions in charge of protection and support of women – victims of domestic violence is being questioned, which is also the subject for analysis in this paper.


2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIKE CHOPRA-GANT

This article examines the construction of gender and race in the television series The Shield (FX 2002–). The article argues that while The Shield seems to offer an ostensibly progressive vision of a multi-cultural society in which race and gender represent no barrier to the possession of legitimate authority, the series premises the possibility of such access to power on the continuing possession of “real” power by a paternalistic white, male figure, thus presenting a regressive conservative vision of gender and race relations in contemporary US society.


Author(s):  
Richard D. Brown

Though Americans have favored the idea of equal rights and equal opportunity, they recognize that differences in wealth and social advantage, like differences in ability and appearance, influence the realization, or not, of equal rights, including equality before the law. In the generations after 1776 the rights of creditors, for example, often overrode the rights of debtors. And criminal trials demonstrate that in courtrooms equal treatment was most often achieved when defendant and victim came from the same social class. Otherwise if they came from different classes social realities, including ethnicity, color, and gender could shape court officials and public opinion. And when a woman’s sexual virtue was compromised, her credibility was almost always discounted. In principle officials paid homage to the ideal of equality before the law, but in practice unequal rights often prevailed.


Author(s):  
Michael Perlin ◽  
Tailia Roitberg Harmon ◽  
Sarah Chatt

First, we discuss the background of the development of counsel adequacy in death penalty cases. Next, we look carefully at Strickland, and the subsequent Supreme Court cases that appear—on the surface—to bolster it in this context. We then consider multiple jurisprudential filters that we believe must be taken seriously if this area of the law is to be given any authentic meaning. Next, we will examine and interpret the data that we have developed. Finally, we will look at this entire area of law through the filter of therapeutic jurisprudence, and then explain why and how the charade of “adequacy of counsel law” fails miserably to meet the standards of this important school of thought. Our title comes, in part, from Bob Dylan’s song, Shelter from the Storm. As one of the authors (MLP) has previously noted in another article drawing on that song’s lyrics, “[i]n a full-length book about that album, the critics Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard characterize the song as depicting a ‘mythic image of torment.’” The defendants in the cases we write about—by and large, defendants with profound mental disabilities who face the death penalty in large part because of the inadequacy of their legal representation— confront (and are defeated by) a world of ‘steel-eyed death.’ We hope that this Article helps change these realities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margrét Valdimarsdóttir

The current research examines the cross-national relationship between income and gender inequality as well as their interconnected influences on both female and male homicide victimization. Using a sample of 127 heterogeneous countries, this research supports previous studies that economically stratified societies tend to have high levels of lethal violence. The study also finds that economically stratified societies tend to be male-dominated, which is also associated with increased violence against women as well as increased male-onmale violence.


Author(s):  
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

Identity-based politics has been a source of strength for people of color, gays and lesbians, among others. The problem with identity politics is that it often conflates intra group differences. Exploring the various ways in which race and gender intersect in shaping structural and political aspects of violence against these women, it appears the interests and experiences of women of color are frequently marginalized within both feminist  and antiracist discourses. Both discourses have failed to consider the intersections of racism and patriarchy. However,  the location of women of color at the intersection of race and gender makes our actual experience of domestic violence, rape, and remedial reform quite different from that of white women. Similarly, both feminist and antiracist politics have functioned in tandem to marginalize the issue of violence against women of color. The effort to politicize violence against women will do little to address the experiences of nonwhite women until the ramifications of racial stratification among women are acknowledged. At the same time, the anti-racist agenda will not be furthered by suppressing the reality of intra-racial violence against women of color. The effect of both these marginalizations is that women of color have no ready means to link their experiences with those of other women.


Author(s):  
Iryna Klymchuk ◽  
◽  
Olena Shtraikher ◽  

The study examines the peculiarities of the implementation of gender policy in the field of security and defense by the example of the UN and NATO. To achieve this goal, we considered the legal regulation of gender equality in the field of security and defense of the UN and NATO; analyzed the work of institutional mechanisms for the implementation of gender policy in the field of security and defense by the example of the UN and NATO; characterized the peculiarities of cooperation between Ukraine, the UN and NATO in ensuring gender equality in the field of security and defense. The legal regulation of gender equality at the UN and NATO levels was considered, in particular a number of resolutions (UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security No. 1325, No. 1820, No. 1888, No. 1889, No. 1960, No. 2106, No. 2122, No. 2422, No. 2467, No. 2493), which recognizes the importance of involving women and gender mainstreaming in peace negotiations, humanitarian planning, peacekeeping, post-conflict peacebuilding, governance, and equal participation of women at all levels of conflict prevention or protection from sexual violence. Also the authors analyzed the work of institutional mechanisms responsible for the implementation of gender policy of the UN and NATO, in particular, their expertise and scope of activities. It was clarified that the following persons responsible for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions in NATO: Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Women, Peace and Security; NATO Gender Office; Gender Adviser at the International Military Staff; a number of advisory committees and working groups led by NATO Strategic Command; Civil Society Advisory Council on Women, Peace and Security. At the same time, the UN has seven expert institutions and regional independent human rights experts to combat discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls: UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women; UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women; UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls; Committee of Experts on the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belem-Par Convention; Expert Group on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence; Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Africa of the African Commission on Human Rights; Human Rights Rapporteur. In addition, a number of sub-organizations and programs have been established at the UN level to achieve gender equality in all spheres of life, such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 movement and the UN-Women. Aspects of Ukraine's cooperation with the UN and NATO in ensuring gender equality in the field of security and defense are highlighted separately. The importance and effectiveness of cooperation between Ukraine and the Alliance during the war in Eastern Ukraine have been established. The support by the UN of Ukraine in fulfilling the obligations within the international regulatory framework on the introduction of gender equality and women’s rights was also analyzed.


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