International Human Rights Law and Domestic Violence

Book excerpt: This book examines the effectiveness of international human rights law, through the case study of domestic violence. This book asks whether international human rights law can only be effective in ‘traditional’ cases of human rights abuse or whether it can rise to the challenge of being used in relation to such an issue as domestic violence? The book focuses primarily on the question of how international human rights law could be used in relation to domestic violence in the United Kingdom. The book considers recent case law from the European Court of Human Rights on domestic violence and whether the UK courts could use the Human Rights Act 1998 to assist victims of domestic violence. The book goes on to look in detail at the statements of the international human rights bodies on domestic violence, with particular focus on those made by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The book explores the impact that the statements have had so far on the UK government’s policy in relation to domestic violence