Abstract
Violence within domestic relationships remains a persistent form of discrimination against women. Initially characterized by overt acts such as wife-beating, contemporary manifestations include various strategies employed by men to assert dominance over their partners. In the early twenty-first century, scholars like Evan Stark sought to understand this issue through the concept of coercive control, which was later recognized as a criminal offense in the United Kingdom in 2015. Today, as digital tools and diverse relationship dynamics have become commonplace, controlling behaviors have evolved to operate independently within domestic relationships, sometimes without overt coercion. This phenomenon is currently under scrutiny by contemporary social scientists. Despite progress in some jurisdictions that have successfully incorporated coercive and controlling behavior into legislation to combat violence within domestic relationships, many regions, particularly in the Global South, have yet to adopt such measures. Addressing this disparity between the Global North and South and recognizing the urgent need to protect women from discrimination, this Article aims to: first, examine how various jurisdictions have incorporated or overlooked coercive and controlling behavior in their legislation to combat violence within domestic relationships; and second, propose “baseline best practices” derived from international and regional legal frameworks. These guidelines are intended to assist states lacking effective measures in adopting strategies to address controlling behaviors within domestic relationships.
Recommended Citation
Pavithra Rajendran,
Crime or Care?: International Laws to Address “Control” in Violence Within Domestic Relationships,
49
S. Ill. U. L.J.
499
(2025).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol49/iss3/9