A feminist reconceptualisation of intimate partner violence against women: A crime against humanity and a state crime

Abstract

Synopsis Intimate partner violence is, internationally, the most prevalent and serious harm perpetrated against women. Yet despite its mass scale, cross-cultural nature, and identifiable structural and institutional elements, it continues to be treated as a problem of violent individuals. In this article, I challenge existing conceptual frameworks by proposing that intimate partner violence (IPV) against women by men be conceptualised within international law as a crime against humanity and a state crime. I explain the suitability of this framework by showing that IPV can be understood as the systematic perpetration of grave harms against a particular social group, within the context of state and institutional policy, practice and ideology that institutes, authorises, endorses, and is therefore complicit, in the harm. I also suggest that IPV can be understood as a state crime because the state perpetrates the structural violence which directly underpins IPV, and because male perpetrators can be understood as proxy agents of the patriarchal state. I suggest that this original way of understanding IPV could enhance its international recognition, illuminate multiple layers of liability for the harm, and prompt more holistic responses to the problem, some of which are outlined in the final section of this article.