Staters positiva förpliktelser och due diligence gällande våld mot kvinnor i hemmet : En kritisk analys av staters upprätthållande av kvinnors mänskliga rättigheter utifrån ett genusrättsvetenskapligt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: Although women’s rights have been widely recognized in the international agenda, violence against women in the private sphere does not seem to decrease. Women are still suffering today from not enjoying the most basic human rights. States fail often to recognize domestic violence as a human rights violation because it is committed in the private sphere by non-states actors. Because of this the European Court of Human Rights decided to develop the due diligence standard in 2008 to combat violence against women. This thesis examines the European Convention on Human Rights law regarding domestic violence and the meaning of member states positive obligation and the concept of due diligence. The European Court has established that member states have several positive obligations to fulfill in order to address the issue of violence against women in the private sphere. However states fail too often to exercise the due diligence by not living up to the standards that has been established by the Court. It has been proven that the Convention articles are inconsistent. The Court needs too clarify exactly which measures states should take to address the issue of violence against women and send a clear message how much effort it takes to fill the scope of the due diligence standard. This inconsistency allows states to take stand in the law enforcements, which are contemplated to be dominated by male norms. The consequence of this is that women are usually disadvantaged in state law enforcement when it comes to violence in the private sphere. It is therefor of great importance to pay attention to women’s rights when it comes to domestic violence, as well as analyzing states approach in the domestic violence cases. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze domestic violence as men’s violence against women from a critical gender perspective by highlighting elements that effects states actions in the cases. The point of departure is to recognize similar behavior in states actions by focusing on the concept male norm and private and public sphere. The results revealed a clear pattern of the concepts. In each case signs of male norms expressed in a male position, where men are superior to women were shown. States divisions of the private and public spheres were also proven in the cases. States would prefer not to intervene when a woman was exposed to violence in the private sphere. This leads to women being suppressed and unable to reach legal protection in the private sphere.