The law alone won’t stop domestic violence – we need a culture change

There’s been little, if any, criticism following Yvette Cooper’s announcement yesterday that if elected next May Labour will properly address domestic violence. In many ways, there’s good reason for this.

As it stands, the system doesn’t do enough to enable women who experience domestic violence to bring their attackers to justice. As Cooper explained, in the UK 2 women a week will die at the hands of their current or former male and 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence at some point in their life. Of those women brave enough to come forward, few see justice; in England and Wales roughly 90% of domestic violence cases reported to the police don’t make it to court. And, if you take a step back from the statistics, the realities many women face are truly horrendous.

When you look at it this way, it seems obvious that Labour should end  ineffective community resolutions introduced by the Coalition and make domestic violence a specific offence.

But, if we’re going to have this conversation, we need to have it properly. Just as we shouldn’t get caught out in thinking Tory MP David Ruffley is an anomaly when it comes to men abusing their female partners (although, incidentally, it is right that he’s been forced to step down, not least thanks to the efforts of campaigners) we need to recognise that domestic violence isn’t a new problem.

The seeds that result in domestic violence are rooted deep into our society and to dig them out, Labour need to a coherent, multilayered strategy. Alongside making domestic violence an offence, Labour need to look at the types of sentences perpetrators of domestic violence will be given under new laws. At the moment, few men who physically abuse a woman receive custodial sentences and those that do tend to get off lightly.

As well as legislating for change, Labour must reverse the cuts to womens’ services that have been so damaging under the coalition. Women’s refuges are often vital support bases for women who have suffered or are suffering at the hands of men. And as dealing with domestic violence is also about creating an environment where women feel they can admit what has happened to them, Labour need to give due attention to the important role refuges play in encouraging women to come forward and hold their abuses to account.

Then, we need to think about long-term measures. Many might think Labour’s proposed legislation is a bold enough step to deal with domestic violence – and it certainly is a significantly positive one – but if we are to accept the gravity of the situation we must learn from our past experiences.  We don’t make significant headway in eliminating society’s ills only by criminalising them. Labour politicians need to ask a question that many feminists have been discussing for decades: why does domestic violence happen in the first place?

It might be hard for some to accept (and most likely refuted by many) but domestic violence is on a patriarchal spectrum that privileges men, in turn giving them power over women. Although it is most definitely at the extreme end, what the epidemic of domestic violence in the UK shows is that there aren’t as many steps between telling a woman to be quiet because of her sex to hitting her as we might think.

To properly deal with this issue, we also need to implement long-term structural changes. At the start of this year, Labour called on the Tories to introduce compulsory sex education, they should follow through with this and outline a Sex Education Bill that teaches all sexes the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. As well as this, we need an education system that makes it clear that gender stereotypes are just that – this could go a long way in addressing the endemic sexism that begins at school, follows us through the rest of our lives and in many cases results in domestic violence. By the same token, deconstructing gender stereotypes would remove the stigma many men who are victims of sexual violence face and could create an environment where they feel more comfortable in admitting what has happened to them.

Labour have started an important conversation but their current proposals can’t be where they end it. Because as feminist writer Kate Millett explained, “Patriarchy, reformed or unreformed, is patriarchy still: its worst abuses purged or foresworn, it might actually be more stable and secure than before.” Or, in other words, Labour must realise that women across the UK are being beaten and killed by men and although it will do a great deal to help, the law alone won’t save them all.