The Criminalisation of Intrafamilial Violence: a Historical and Political Exploration

In other work, I have explored what is political about intrafamilial violence. I claimed that intrafamilial violence is political not only because it involves violating human rights but, more fundamentally, because social structures contribute to its explanation. Exploring what is political about intrafamilial violence allows us to identify two crucial features. First, the structural explanation suggests that the political community’s social practices contribute to the broader context that gives meaning to intrafamilial violence as a tool for control. Accordingly, it is not just the offender but the political community that should also be called to account. Second, it shows that intrafamilial violence, as a tool for control, undermines not just the body but the social power of the victim while simultaneously empowering the offender. This paper examines these features in more detail and shows their importance for criminal law theory, namely, as reasons for justifying criminalising intrafamilial violence.