Criminal Justice for Victims of Domestic Violence
| DOI | 10.1177/135822919800300303 |
| Author | Katinka Lünnemann |
| Date | 01 December 1998 |
| Published date | 01 December 1998 |
International Journal
of
Discrimination and the Law,
1998,
Vol.
3,
pp.
181-192
1358-2291/98 $10
©
1998
A B Academic Publishers. Printed in Great Britain
CRIMINAL
JUSTICE
FOR
VICTIMS
OF
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
KATINKA
LUNNEMANN
Faculty
of
Law,
University
of
Utrecht,
The
Netherlands
ABSTRACT
In the Netherlands there
is
no
criminal act
of
'domestic violence'. Although
domestic violence
is
covered by general provisions
of
criminal law, the specific
aspects
of
domestic violence
of
women are often not recognized by the police, the
prosecutor and judges. In this article the problems
of
protection by criminal law
are considered, and suggestions are made to enhance the protection by criminal
law.
INTRODUCTION
Since the Eighties the issue
of
domestic violence has become an
important legal issue in the Netherlands: the woman is a legal subject
and has rights which must be respected within the home as well as
outside. Violence against the woman
by
her husband
or
boyfriend
constitutes a breach
of
her physical integrity and personal privacy.
Respect for privacy
of
the home is usually considered a passive right.
Violence against women in the home is individualized and reduced to
a man-woman relationship where issues
of
power are not recognized
as relevant. Male battering
of
women is perceived as a private prob-
lem for which society has no responsibility. Respect for privacy
means in that case protecting the privileges and prerogatives
of
the
battering man and failing to protect the battered women. The privacy
of
the man is respected, but not the privacy
of
the home.
On
the
other hand the concept
of
privacy may also be interpreted as a right
to freedom, as an affirmative concept
of
liberty. Privacy is an import-
ant prerequisite for the development
of
self-respect, self-expression
and self-assurance, in other words to ensure some degree
of
auto-
nomy. It is
women's
right to take their own decisions.
If
privacy is
interpreted as an active right, state intervention to protect the woman
battered by
her
partner becomes a necessary precondition for the
woman to be able to exercise her freedom rights. 1 The question is
how to provide the security which will allow women to exercise their
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