International perspectives on violence against women.

• Main Author: Cheema, Satinder.
• Other Authors: Rodgers, Sanda
• Format: Others
• Published: University of Ottawa (Canada) 2009
• Subjects: Law.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/6874; http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-11496

This dissertation traces through history the manner in which women around the globe have been forced into subordination to man. In this context, it looks at the role played by the patriarchal system in women's subjugation and violence against women. It identifies the different faces of violence against women around the world and focuses on the various forms of violence against women. The dissertation then presents a global review of violence against women in detention and analyses the abusive use of this power by agencies of the state. To reflect how this power, lacking in accountability and deterrent force, can result in a mockery of the whole concept of justice, the dissertation reviews violence against women who are directly under the control of police--the primary law enforcement agency of the state. The dissertation uses examples the Indian sub-continent to show how the attitude of police in developing countries has, instead of controlling the violence, promoted violence against women and the impact of this attitude on the society. The dissertation analyses the general attitude of police towards violence against women; the victims' perception of the police, and the police perception of abused women on the issues of family violence. It observes that elimination of violence against women cannot be achieved through law reform alone. Proper enforcement of such reformative measures, accountability of the enforcers and condemnation of enforcers when they fail to do what is expected of them are equally important to eliminate violence against women. The dissertation concludes with the argument that under the present structure of society violence against women cannot be eliminated until the attitude of women towards their own selves is changed as well as that of men in general and police in particular, which directly affects the attitude of men towards women.