Exploring VAW Response Trajectories in Europe: Comparing Contrasts in Denmark and Italy

William Sørensen, European University Institute

As we know, from Weldon’s seminal work (2002), government action to address violence against women (VAW) results from interaction between women’s movements and political institutions. In fact, Corradi and Stöckl claim that even though the state is the strongest actor in policy making, no other area of European social policy has seen the presence of grassroot movements as strong so as on the issue of VAW (see Corradi & Stöckl, 2016: 672). The outset of this study is an empirical observation of differences in European VAW policy regimes: In Denmark, official policy has shifted away from explicitly focusing on “men’s violence against women” [mænd volds mod kvinder] as no coherent state efforts addressing VAW exists today. Instead, the specific issues of “violence in intimate relations” [vold i nære relationer] and “rape” [voldtægt] are political prioritized and salient issues, addressed institutionally separate and both through gender-neutral public health frameworks (see Sørensen & Bertelsen, 2023). In contrast, Italy has witnessed a notable rise in governmental initiatives aimed at tackling the issue of "male violence towards women" [violenza maschile contro le donne] over the past decade utilizing a gender-based framework (see Toffanin et al., 2020). With an outset in Weldon’s work, and the literature that has followed (see for example, Roggeband 2012 or Corradi & Donato 2023), we seek to assess whether and how the differences in policy outcome has to do with configurations of the shelter movements and the movements’ interactions with state.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 171. Ethics of Care, Gender, Environment, and Labor