Domestic Abuse as a Violation of Fundamental Human Rights

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Executive Summary

Domestic abuse constitutes a grave and systematic violation of fundamental human rights. Beyond isolated criminal acts, domestic abuse represents a sustained deprivation of safety, dignity, autonomy, bodily integrity, psychological security, and equality before the law.

Despite international human rights obligations, many legal systems fail to adequately prevent, prosecute, punish, and remedy domestic abuse, resulting in systemic rights violations and state accountability failures.

This analysis establishes domestic abuse as:

• A human rights violation, not merely a private criminal matter
• A form of gender-based discrimination
• A breach of positive state obligations under international law

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1. Core Human Rights Violated by Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse violates multiple foundational human rights, including:

1.1 Right to Life

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 3
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), Article 2

Domestic abuse is a leading predictor of:

• Domestic homicide
• Femicide
• Suicide
• Life-shortening chronic disease

State failure to prevent domestic abuse constitutes a direct violation of the right to life, particularly where known risk factors exist.

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1.2 Right to Freedom from Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

UDHR, Article 5
ECHR, Article 3

Domestic abuse meets the legal threshold for:

• Psychological torture
• Coercive control
• Prolonged trauma exposure
• Emotional degradation

When abuse is systematic, prolonged, and coercive, it constitutes psychological torture under international law.

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1.3 Right to Security of Person

UDHR, Article 3

Survivors experience:

• Chronic fear
• Hypervigilance
• Continuous threat exposure

Failure to ensure protection breaches the state’s obligation to provide personal security.

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1.4 Right to Private and Family Life

ECHR, Article 8

Domestic abuse destroys:

• Psychological safety
• Family integrity
• Parental capacity
• Emotional development of children

Failure to intervene violates the state’s duty to protect individuals within private and domestic spheres.

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1.5 Right to Non-Discrimination

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Failure to adequately address domestic abuse constitutes gender-based discrimination, as:

• The majority of survivors are women
• Systemic under-protection reflects structural gender bias

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2. Domestic Abuse as State Responsibility

2.1 The Doctrine of Due Diligence

Under international law, states must:

• Prevent abuse
• Investigate allegations
• Prosecute offenders
• Punish proportionately
• Protect survivors

Failure in any of these areas constitutes state accountability.

Key Case Law:
Opuz v Turkey (2009), European Court of Human Rights

The Court ruled:

State inaction in domestic abuse cases constitutes a violation of Articles 2, 3, and 14 of the ECHR.

This established legal precedent for state liability in domestic abuse deaths.

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2.2 Failure of Prevention = Violation

Where authorities:

• Ignore warning signs
• Minimise reports
• Fail to enforce protective orders
• Dismiss coercive control

They breach positive obligations under human rights law.

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3. Neuroscience, Trauma & Legal Responsibility

Modern neuroscience confirms:

• Trauma permanently alters brain structure
• Psychological injury equals physical injury
• Chronic threat exposure causes long-term neurological harm

Failure to legally recognise:

• PTSD
• Complex trauma
• Neurobiological injury

results in systematic under-valuation of harm, breaching proportional justice principles.

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4. Coercive Control as Psychological Torture

Coercive control includes:

• Surveillance
• Isolation
• Financial restriction
• Symbolic threat
• Emotional manipulation
• Fear-based domination

These meet international definitions of:

Prolonged psychological torture

Yet most legal systems still fail to criminalise coercive control effectively.

This gap creates:

• Legal invisibility
• Under-prosecution
• Escalation risk

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5. Disproportionate Sentencing & Human Rights Failure

Short or suspended sentences for severe domestic abuse violate:

• Proportionality principles
• Survivor dignity
• Public safety obligations

When punishment does not reflect:

• Psychological devastation
• Long-term trauma
• Economic destruction
• Parenting harm

Justice becomes symbolic, not substantive.

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6. Post-Separation Risk & Lethality

International research shows:

The highest homicide risk occurs post-separation

Failure to implement:

• Enhanced protection
• Mandatory risk reassessment
• Extended restraining orders

constitutes negligence under human rights law.

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7. Financial Abuse as Economic Violence

Financial abuse deprives survivors of:

• Autonomy
• Security
• Freedom
• Dignity

This violates:

• Right to livelihood
• Right to dignity
• Right to freedom from exploitation

Economic captivity equals coercive entrapment, a recognised form of human rights abuse.

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8. Intersection with Children’s Rights

Children exposed to domestic abuse suffer:

• Neurological trauma
• Developmental disruption
• Long-term mental health risk

This violates:
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

Failure to protect children from domestic environments of abuse constitutes systemic child rights violations.

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9. State Obligations for Reform

To meet human rights standards, states must implement:

• Trauma-informed judicial training
• Coercive control legislation
• Neuroscience-based risk assessments
• Survivor-centred court procedures
• Post-separation safety laws
• Perpetrator rehabilitation programs
• Financial abuse criminalisation

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10. Conclusion: Justice as a Human Rights Imperative

Domestic abuse is:

Not a private issue
Not a relationship problem
Not a family matter

It is a grave human rights violation demanding state accountability.

Until legal systems integrate:

• Trauma science
• Psychological harm
• Neurobiological injury
• Survivor-centred justice

Human rights protections remain incomplete.

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Final Statement

“Let the punishment fit the crime.”

When the crime is psychological captivity, identity destruction, and neurological injury, justice demands proportional accountability, survivor protection, and structural reform.

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