‘Beating Domestic Violence? Assessing the EU’s contribution to tackling violence against women’

Domestic violence remains a social problem across the EU Member States and, following the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU has adopted a series of measures which will affect women experiencing this form of intimate violence. This paper examines these measures to assess their potential benefits for women who experience domestic violence. Tackling domestic violence has been explicitly linked to the EU’s mandate on gender equality, but measures have been adopted under a variety of competence and their impact may be limited by EU’s supranational status and the private nature of domestic violence. However, the paper identifies opportunities for the EU in further enhancing the protection and support for women experiencing domestic violence, and contributing to the EU’s wider aim of achieving gender equality.