Campaigning for an End to Domestic Violence: The need for multilateral approaches

The family is the most dangerous place for women around the world. Campaigners for women’srights must confront the prevalence of domestic violence to ensure that women are able to enjoytheir fundamental human rights. In order to establish practical programmes of action to addressdomestic violence, campaigners will encounter problems on four levels -- local, social, national,and international. This paper explores the intimate nature of domestic violence and identifiessome of the problems this intimacy poses at these levels, as well as noting recent campaigningsuccesses. It argues for the need for wide-ranging strategies on each of these levels, so thatdomestic violence is no longer considered a ‘private’ problem.