Gender And Crime: Comparative Criminal Justice Responses To Domestic Violence In Different Jurisdictions

Abstract

Domestic violence is one of the most widespread and gendered types of crime all over the world, which impacts women disproportionately, ruining their basic human rights. Although more prominent voices are being made internationally and in nations, the criminal justice system in most countries such as Pakistan remains to grapple with the structural and cultural curves to deal with domestic violence. The paper addresses the intersectionality of gender and crime by use of comparative analysis of responses of criminal justice towards domestic violence in Pakistan and in some selected countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and India. [1]It is a sharp critique of the role gendered assumptions play in determining police conduct, prosecutor discretion, judicial interpretation and victim protection mechanisms. Taking the space of the feminist criminology and the intersectionality theory, the research is based on the idea that domestic violence is not a domestic conflict but a systemic problem within the patriarchal systems and biases of the institutions. Comparative data demonstrates that gender-sensitive legal innovations have been introduced into the law in developed jurisdictions, but these have not been applied consistently throughout the Global South because of socio-cultural opposition and poor enforcement. The paper concludes by proposing context-specific reform in Pakistan with a need to have gender-sensitive legal frameworks, training on law enforcement, with an integrated victim-support system in the criminal justice system.