Policy Responses to Domestic Violence, the Criminalisation Thesis and ‘Learning from History’
| Author | LUCY WILLIAMS,SANDRA WALKLATE |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12378 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
The Howard Journal Vol59 No 3. September 2020 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12378
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 305–316
Policy Responses to Domestic
Violence, the Criminalisation Thesis
and ‘Learning from History’
LUCY WILLIAMS and SANDRA WALKLATE
Lucy Williams is a post-doctoral researcher, University of Liverpool; Sandra
Walklate is Eleanor Rathbone Chair of Sociology, University of Liverpool and
conjoint Chair of Criminology, Monash University, Australia
Abstract: The ‘criminalisation thesis’ has proved a contentious but defining feature of
modern social and legal responses to domestic violence since the 1970s. However, crim-
inalisation has not always been the focus of legal attempts to tackle violence or offer
recourse to victims. This article uses historical examples to explore the potential of legisla-
tive intervention outside of criminal law in tackling violence against women. While the
Victorians introduced the first criminal legislation specifically developed to tackle domestic
violence, the intervention remained singular. Those addressing violence against women
soon shifted their focus towards achieving broader social and cultural change via civil
law. Legislators sought to reduce the vulnerability of women to exploitation and violence
at the hands of their husbands through reforms to child custody, divorce, and property
law. The authors find there are relevant lessons to be learned from addressing domestic
violence in this way, which might usefully inform current policy direction.
Keywords: criminalisation; domestic violence; history; women’s rights
The draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill 2019, at the time of writing
under parliamentary scrutiny, perpetuates a 20th/21st Century preoccu-
pation with, and embrace of, what has been termed the ‘criminalisation
thesis’. Put simply, this thesis presumes the (at least) symbolic power of
the law, when enacted through the work of criminal justice professionals,
will have a deterrent effect on those indulging in violence against women.
This thesis grew in prominence during the 1970s as feminist voices cam-
paigned for all violence against women to be taken seriously and coincided
with those demanding ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ pol-
icy responses to crime. Such an ‘unholy’ alignment was more discernible
in the United States than perhaps elsewhere (Goodmark 2018) but it is,
nevertheless, the case that as recognition of, and concern about, violence
against women made its presence felt in England and Wales from the late
305
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2020 The Authors. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League
and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which per-
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