The contribution of international human rights law to the fight against domestic violence against women

The elimination of domestic violence against women constitutes a major contemporary issue due to its continued extent in modern society. Fundamental to this fight is the role of international human rights law. Nonetheless, numerous voices have criticised it, blaming it of being inappropriate, partly due to the ghettoization of women issues in international law. However, this fight has gathered more importance in recent years as the adoption of various texts testifies. These are fundamental as they formulate principles and values and strengthen their weight by the establishment of monitoring mechanisms. These efforts are nevertheless insufficient as they sometimes suffer from an inadequate application at the national level and from the persistence of cultural dimensions which are at the origin of the entrenchment of this violence. However, international human rights law has endeavoured to condemn this violence through the help of other means, such as the reinterpretation of various rights; for example, the right not to be discriminated against. In addition, the condemnations by courts are directly addressed to State authorities but nevertheless represent an efficient instrument to fight against this type of violence as the State plays an active role in the establishment and the perpetuation of gender inequalities and of power relations in our societies. Other factors have also enabled substantial progress, such as the appearance of the concept of due diligence. This means that the State will be considered responsible for private acts if it has not employed necessary and appropriate means to protect victims, to investigate and to prosecute those who are responsible.