Domestic violence is gender discrimination, says European Court of Human Rights

[edam]

about blinking time

I DO hope this is accurate. If so, might put violence against women on a similar footing to racist attacks - forcing the judicial system to take hatred of women just as seriously as hatred of any other group.

As well as making a huge difference to women in Turkey, of course.

Are they actually saying domestic violence is gender discrmination though?

Surely they are saying that the Turkish government's failure to prosecute violence against women as would against men, is unequal treatment, and clearly discriminatory. Similar things happen in British Muslim communities as well.

I don't think it's intended to mean that violence against women should be treated as 'sexually motivated' in the way that white person attacking a black person would be 'racially motivated'. As far as I'm aware, outside of feminist theory, domestic violence is treated as violence against someone in a vulnerable position, rather than specifically as an act of anti-women hatred.

Though you would get court cases on the basis of "Mr. X hates blacks" I'd be surprised if you'd get many lawyers pursuing the "Mr. X hates women" line, even though many men are serial abusers and do do it to woman after woman. It is a tougher argument to make, some people are simply violent scum and their partner is an outlet rather than a motivation - it's rather unlikely that somebody convicted of a racially motivated attack on a black person would have a black wife, whereas domestic violence cases are between two putative lovers.

Anyway, that's not to say that the police cannot give higher priority to domestic violence than two thugs fighting in a pub, nor that the two crimes should be sentenced the sam eway either.

I'm not sure it is reasonable to say violent men hit women because they are there, rather than because they are women. I think what I understand of the behaviour of perpetrators of domestic violence is that they do hate women.

(You are right that the case was about the failure of the Turkish justice system, of course. But if the European Court is telling all the signatories that their courts have to take violence against women seriously, and that failure to do so is discrimination, that's a real step forward. Need to see more details, I guess.)

I think it just introduces undesirable complications. Frankly, I would hate to be sitting there in a courtroom while ex h demonstrates that he respects women.

What about women who are violent towards their male partners, is their motivation that they hate men?

they are probably just bullies who wouldnt physically abuse a man who hit them back. But this is not gender discrimination.

fair point about your ex.