ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we detail the creation of our original data on the presence and strength of four types of domestic statutes addressing violence against women (VAW). Because the quantitative approach is not common in international-relations literature addressing women's lives, we begin the chapter by briefly addressing some common concerns about this type of methodology. Next we provide an overview of existing measures of gender-violence laws, explaining why we consider our data to be an improvement necessary to address the research questions posed earlier in the book. Finally, we describe the creation of our original cross-national legal data. In doing so, we introduce readers to a simple measurement methodology that is hopefully transparent enough that it can be used to create indicators of many laws other than those addressed in this book.
