The 2024 European Union Directive on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence: An Assessment of Policy Design

Gender-based violence is a serious problem with severe health, social and economic consequences. To address it, the European Union adopted Directive 2024/1385 of 14 May 2024 on Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. This first-ever EU-wide integrated policy identifies various forms of violence, including physical, sexual, psychological, economic and cyber violence, and aims to prevent and combat them. Using an intersectional feminist perspective, along with policy design analysis and discourse analysis, this article examines how gender-based violence is framed in terms of its origins, the policy tools employed and the implementation capacity to ensure policy effectiveness. While the directive demonstrates strong evidence of effective policy design, several issues remain unaddressed, potentially undermining efforts to eradicate violence against women in Europe.