Dilemmas in the Criminalisation of Spousal Abuse

Helene Carbonatto

Until quite recently the main approach to wife assault had been indifference. Lack of intervention was based on the assumption that violence in the home was a private matter that did not require intervention by formal agencies of social control. The feminist movement helped put spousal abuse on the public agenda, and to ensure the emphasis in current policy is on the role of law enforcement.

This paper examines the shift in the last ten years towards using criminal justice reforms to help battered women. It highlights the dilemmas of recent reforms by considering the practical, political, ideological and cultural implications of using the state as an ally to eradicate spousal abuse. This is not to condemn those who have worked to criminalise spousal abuse. Clearly battered women and their children need to be protected from their violent partners. The dilemma is how best to achieve this.

This paper argues that if we are honest about helping battered women, we must acknowledge the complexity and diversity of spousal abuse by giving women a much wider range of choices than simple legal recourse, so that they can be empowered to take control of their own lives and break the cycle of violence.