Do Guarantees of Non-Recurrence Actually Help to Prevent Systemic Violations? Reflections on Measures Taken to Prevent Domestic Violence

Abstract

This article assesses the effectiveness of guarantees of non-recurrence to prevent the recurring, systemic violation of domestic violence. I consider whether there is any evidence to demonstrate that the measures ordered in response to state due diligence failings concerning domestic violence produced a change that that can be understood as effectively contributing to prevention. This is done principally by reviewing reports on the implementation of domestic violence judgments and decisions issued by the Inter-American and European regional human rights systems and by the UN CEDAW Committee. However, as is shown, for the most part these bodies have carried out only superficial scrutiny of the effectiveness in practice of measures undertaken by states to guarantee non-recurrence. Thus, I identify a number of areas which merit further cross-disciplinary study.