ABSTRACT
There is still considerable debate about die value of the criminal justice system in affecting men's violence against their female partners. Many of the law reforms introduced in the 1980s and early 1990s - specifically mandatory arrest, prosecution and imprisonment in their various guises - seem to have failed to increase women's safety. A number of writers have suggested that this is because the criminal justice system does not and cannot challenge the patriarchal structures which both underlie and sanction men's violence against their female partners (see, for example, Smart 1989, 1995; Snider 1998; Morris 1993). Other writers continue to promote a law enforcement response and suggest that the reasons for its failure lie in practical difficulties and that stricter enforcement, controls on discretion and so on would make a difference (see, for example, Hanmer 1989; Edwards 1989, and, most recently, Kelly 1999).
