Citation

Burman M. Violence Against Women 2010; 16(2): 173-188.

Affiliation

Umea University, Sweden. monica.burman@jus.umu.se

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801209355515

PMID

20053946

Abstract

The main aim of the Swedish Women's Peace reform in 1998 was to enhance criminal legal protection for women exposed to violence in heterosexual relationships and to promote gender equality. However, these ambitions risk being contravened in a masculinist criminal legal system. One problem concerns how the victim is constructed in criminal legal cases. The author argues that moral balancing and discourses of responsibility and guilt in Swedish cases constrain the agency possible for women and suggest that a more comprehensive policy in Sweden must be developed to include violent men, their agency, and their responsibility for the violence.

Language: en