The Responses of States to the Comments of the CEDAW Committee on Domestic Violence

Abstract

This article examines the question of how states have responded to the comments of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on the issue of domestic violence, through an analysis of 11 Western European States. It is argued that the majority of the states surveyed are complying with only some of the recommendations of the Committee in relation to domestic violence. This finding serves to highlight the fact that there are certainly major difficulties regarding the implementation of human rights law. This article focuses on the Concluding Observations made by the CEDAW Committee on the reports submitted by the Member States, and problems surrounding these Concluding Observations and the work of the Committee are also examined.