The role of the criminal law in the protection of women against gender-based violence.

Abstract

The preamble affirms that “violence against women constitutes a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women and impairs or nullifies their enjoyment of those rights and freedoms” and it expresses concerned about the long-standing failure to protect and promote those rights and freedoms in the case of violence against women.”Article 3 of the Istanbul Declaration2 defines gender violence against women as “gender-based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”This article will first address the constitutional frame work generally for the protection of the rights of women and then focus specifically on the Jeri case which involves a gender-based murder.