Domestic violence: What has the law got to do with it?

An account of legal interventions in domestic violence must begin with an examination of what domestic violence is and an attempt to assess the scope of the problem. It is also important to explore the reasons for legal intervention and whether the law has a meaningful role to play in addressing what some might regard as essentially a social problem rather than a legal problem. The focus of this book will be legal responses to domestic violence in England and Wales. However the law or practices of law enforcement agencies in England and Wales has sometimes been developed to take into account approaches in other countries. Thus it can be contextually illuminating to compare legal interventions in domestic violence in other jurisdictions. Many of the theoretical debates about the role of law in domestic violence cases are not jurisdiction specific and consequently there is a rich international debate to be drawn upon in this respect.