High hopes? The gender equality duty and its impact on responses to gender-based violence

Abstract

From 2007 until 2011, the Gender Equality Duty (GED) required public bodies in Britain to take gender equality into consideration in all policies and services. This article traces its implementation in Scotland, following devolution. It focuses on the GED’s perceived potential as a policy tool for driving change in the way public bodies, particularly those responsible for the delivery of criminal justice, respond to gender-based violence. We highlight the distinctive approach taken to genderbased violence in Scotland, and argue that despite some evidence of mainstreaming, the real potential for change afforded by the GED was never fully realised.