Explaining Cross-National Variation in Domestic Violence Legislation

Domestic violence is a global problem experienced predominantly by women. Due to sustained international attention by international and local actors, most governments have enacted legislation to prevent and punish domestic violence in its various forms. But there is significant variation in the scope and framework of these laws. In this paper, we analyze the determinants of adoption of comprehensive domestic violence laws around the world, using international guidelines to measure the adequacy of state legislation. For this purpose, we created a multidimensional domestic violence law scale which examines the following four points: 1) comprehensiveness of domestic violence law, 2) evidence required to justify domestic violence law 3) sanctions for domestic violence law, and 4) the presence of customary law regarding domestic violence. This scale is the most comprehensive measurement to evaluate cross-national variation in domestic violence laws. The paper provides an analysis of these variations in order to explain why some states lack adequate legal protection against domestic violence. It further analyses the correlations between different dimensions of domestic violence law as well as the determinants of adequate state legislation, focusing on the relationship between the laws and state democracy, wealth, religion, patrilineal practices, women’s political power, and participation within CEDAW.