2009 2010 SPECIAL EDITION

LAW&gender Women’s rightS centre – poland

On 10 December 2009, the European Par-

liament in Brussels hosted a public
hearing on violence against women, organized by
the Women’s Rights Centre in co-operation with
women MEPs, Britta Thompson and Eva Sven-
son, the chair of the committee on Women’s Rights
and Gender Equality. The preparation of this im-
portant event was also supported by two Polish
MEPs, Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg and Joan-
na Senyszyn.
The main goal of the hearing was to call upon the
EU to adopt a legally binding instrument, pref-
erably a directive, on combating violence against
women.
Apart from the above mentioned MEPs, the speak-
ers included: Urszula Nowakowska, the director
of the Polish Women’s Rights Center and the au-
thor of the project; Rosa Logar, the director of
Domestic Violence Intervention Center in Vien-
na; prof. Carol Hagemann-White, the head of the
Women’s Studies at the University of Osnabrück,
Angela Beausang, the director of the Swedish
Women’s Shelters and prof. Roman Wieruszewski
from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań.
All speakers emphasized the gravity of the prob-
lem as a human rights violation and the most
harmful form of discrimination against women,
which requires a more determined and compre-
hensive approach, both at the national and the
EU levels.
The panelists supported and justified the propos-
al for the directive. Rosa Logar, Angela Beau-
sand and Carol Hagemann-White outlined vari-
ous general models and strategies to combat gen-
der-based violence, prof. Wieruszewski explained
why the EU has not only competence to adopt a
binding instrument against gender based violence
but in fact – in particular after the entry into force
of the Lisbon Treaty – is under obligation to do so
and Urszula Nowakowska pointed out the role of
moral and political will necessary to end violence
against women – the will to move from declara-
tions to binding laws.
Britta Thompson and Eva Svenson spoke about
the recent steps against gender based violence tak-
en within the EU legal framework and promised to
continue their work against gender-based discrimi-
nation, including particularly the proposal for a di-
rective on combating violence against women.
After the hearing, the participants saw the play
“The BALLAD OF SWEET DAPHNE” performed
by the therapeutic theatre run by the Women’s
Rights Centre.
(AD&UN)

„Law&Gender” is  Editors in chief: This

the special, English
language issue of the
journal “Prawo i Płeć”
published by the
Polish Women’s Rights
Centre since 2000.
Editorial Office:
Women’s Rights Centre
60 Wilcza Street, app. 19, 00-679 Warsaw
tel. (+48-22) 622-25-17
tel./fax (+48-22) 652-01-17
www.cpk.org.pl
e-mail temida@cpk.org.pl
Andrzej Dominiczak
Urszula Nowakowska
Editorial staff:
Elkie Pupek, Bożena Witowicz,
Sławomir Dąbrowski
Translators:
Andrzej Dominiczak, Nyegosh Dube,
Elkie Pupek
Proof-readers: Peter Barrett (Armidale,
Australia), Beth Ciesielski (Bucharest,
Romania), Howard Clark (Madrid, Spain),
Bill Cooke (Auckland, New Zealand),
Marcin Łakomski (Berlin, Germany),
Joy Judd (Warsaw, Poland)
ISBN: 978-83-89888-22-8
publication
was made
possible by a grant from the European
Union’s Daphne III Programme: Prevent
and combat violence against children,
young people and women and to
protect victims and groups at risk.
Acknowledgements:
The editors would like to express
their sincere gratitude to all persons
listed above as proof-readers for
their voluntary help in preparing this
publication.
Second edition
 Fro m t h e e d i to r
 
F r o m t h e e d i t o r:
Political and moral
will to end violence
against women:
from declarations
to binding laws
Equality between men and women
is one of the fundamental principles of
the European Union. It has been recog-
nised as such in the Lisbon Treaty and in
the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The
EU has adopted two approaches to tack-
le this social plague. They combine spe-
cific measures to combat gender discrim-
ination and ensure equality with the ap-
proach known as gender-mainstreaming
where the issue of equality is dealt with
in the broader context of other policies
aimed, for example, at eradicating pov-
erty, improving working conditions or ac-
cess to education and health services.
In recent years, the evolution of the
EU gender equality policy has led to the
broadening of the EU agenda to include
such issues as spousal abuse, female gen-
ital mutilation or trafficking in persons.
However, although the problem of vio-
lence against women is currently dealt
with more seriously than before, so far,
the European Union has not adopted any
legally binding instruments to ensure its
2
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
more effective eradication. A  growing
number of women would like to change
this situation, as experience show that
in the face of persistent patriarchal and
sexists attitudes declarations and rec-
ommendations are not sufficient to safe-
guard women’s and children’s lives and
protect their health and wellbeing.
So the time has come out to take an-
other step and prove that Europe really
wants to become a safer place for women
and children. We need to turn moral in-
dignation into political will and move fur-
ther: from declarations to binding laws.
So far, the opponents of the idea that
the European Union should be direct-
ly involved in combating violence against
women and adopting binding laws against
it, claimed that the EU has no competence
to do so. But is it really lack of competency
that has been the main barrier for the EU
to tackle the issue of gender based violence
in a more constructive and comprehensive
way? In our opinion, it is not. If we agree
that the root causes of violence against
women lie in the unequal distribution of
power and if we understand the interde-
pendence between gender inequality and
men’s violence against women, there is no
doubt that the EU can recognize its man-
date to take binding legal measures. Espe-
cially now, since the Lisbon Treaty and the
Charter of Fundamental Rights have been
finally adopted, there is no doubt that the
EU has a solid legal ground to combat vio-
lence against women. The only missing el-
ement is political will.
It is commonly recognized that men’s
violence against women is a  violation of
fundamental human rights: of the right to
life, to safety, to dignity, to physical and
mental integrity, to sexual and reproduc-
tive choices and the right to health. Vio-

lence against women in its most extreme
form leads to the killing of women. It is
an obstacle to women’s participation in
social, political and public life, as well as
in the labour market. It contributes to the
marginalisation and impoverishment of
many women.
Another important reason for address-
ing violence against women at Europe-
an Union level is the increasingly growing
movement of people between the EU mem-
ber states. Violence against women knows
no borders. It affects women and children
regardless of their nationality and social
status; it cuts across boundaries of age,
race, culture and wealth. It takes place in
the home, in the streets, in schools, at the
workplace, in farm fields, refugee camps,
during conflicts and crises. To tackle it more
effectively, we need to develop a  common
and standardized laws and policies.
The number of women victims of gen-
der-based violence is alarming. The study
commissioned by the World Health Organ-
ization found that violence against women
and girls is a problem of pandemic propor-
tions. Up to 70 percent of women experi-
ence physical or sexual violence from men
in their lifetime: the majority from hus-
bands, intimate partners or someone they
know. Among women aged 15–44, acts of
violence cause more deaths and disability
than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and
war combined. Perhaps the most perva-
sive human rights violation that we know
today, violence against women devastates
lives, harming families and communities.
Gender-based violence not only vio-
lates human rights, but also hampers pro-
ductivity, reduces human capital, under-
mines economic growth and generates
costs. As research of Sylvia Walby (Uni-
versity of Leeds) shows in Great Britain
3
From the editor  

the total cost of domestic violence to serv-
ices (Criminal Justice System, health, so-
cial services, housing, civil legal) amounts
to 3.1 billion, while the loss to the econo-
my is 2.7 billion. This amounts to over 5.7
billion a year. A 2003 report from the US
Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion estimates that the costs of intimate
partner violence in the United States
alone exceeds US$5.8 billion per year:
US$4.1 billion account for direct med-
ical and health care services, while pro-
ductivity losses account for nearly US$1.8
billion due to absenteeism. The estimate
of costs provides an additional perspec-
tive for examining the devastating conse-
quences of domestic violence for society
as well as for victims.
This year we celebrate the 10th an-
niversary of the UN resolution establish-
ing the International Day for the Elimi-
nation of Violence against Women. This
is a  time not only to call the Member
States to improve their national laws and
policies to combat all forms of violence
against women. This is also a  time for
the European Union to unite against gen-
der violence and adopt a European direc-
tive aimed at preventing and eliminating
all forms of violence against women. We
need the directive and standardized pro-
grammes to prevent and combat violence
against women across the European Un-
ion. The principle of subsidiarity shall not
apply here. It does not cover the funda-
mental rights and freedoms of European
citizens and it does not cover the prob-
lems that can be best solved at the EU
level. The positive obligation to take steps
necessary to prevent and combat violence
against women lies not only on national
authorities but also on the relevant inter-
national bodies.
 Fro m t h e e d i to r
 
An important structural problem that
should be taken into account is the lan-
guage of the public debate, of the laws,
policies and programmes. In some coun-
tries the concept of gender based violence
and violence against women is not even
preset despite the effort of women’s NGOs
to introduce it to the public debate. Sev-
eral countries adopted laws on domestic
violence, but in some of them, the legis-
lation is gender-blind, thus not providing
effective measures to protect women and
children against domestic violence. This,
for example, is the case in Poland, Estonia
or Hungary. The EU standards for serv-
ice providers still haven’t been fulfilled
in many member states. NGOs in many
countries are still not considered impor-
tant actors in the field of service provision
or equal partners in implementing nation-
al programs and policies. Some countries
have almost fulfilled their obligation con-
cerning space in shelters, while other have
very few specialized shelters for wom-
en and children. In Poland, most women
fleeing violent partners are accommodat-
ed in shelters for the homeless or in the so
called Crisis Intervention Centres, which
have gender neutral policies and do not
provide specialized services for battered
women and children. Even those very few,
so called Specialized Support Centres, do
not pursue gender specific policies and
their addresses are publicly available, so
male perpetrators who try to avoid pros-
ecution by claiming that they have been
abused, may be accommodated there. The
access to public funding for NGOs has no
transparent rules, which may result in the
closing of services provided by highly pro-
fessional NGOs, such as WRC.
There are many causes of the prob-
lems with the implementation of the EU
4
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
recommendations. The main reason, how-
ever, seems to be the evident lack of politi-
cal will to make a change and introduce an
effective legal and institutional measures
addressing the problem of gender vio-
lence. Our experience shows that it is only
strong international pressure, as it was in
the case of the obligatory harmonization of
domestic laws with the EU acquis commu-
nautaire, that may compel some national
governments to take actions. International
institutions, such as the UN, EU and Coun-
cil of Europe, have already contributed sig-
nificantly to improve the legislation and
institutional framework to protect wom-
en against gender violence. Without their
directives, declarations, and recommen-
dations combating violence against wom-
en and children would be much more diffi-
cult. However, due to the cultural and po-
litical barriers, existing soft laws and good
practices are still not sufficient, so a bind-
ing EU law seems to offer the only hope for
many European women.
As Sylvia Walby, the UNESCO Chair in
Gender Research, based at Lancaster Uni-
versity, said at the recent EU Conference
in Stockholm, “It is time to overcome hes-
itation as to whether the EU level is rel-
evant to the improvement of policies to
combat violence against women”.
So, let me call upon the European Union
and its decision making bodies to strength-
en the union and take an important step, or
perhaps a leap forward to suppress gender
violence by adopting the European direc-
tive on combating violence against wom-
en. This may not eradicate violence entire-
ly but it would certainly improve the quali-
ty of life of millions of women and children
all over Europe and could save thousands of
lives each year.
Urszula Nowakowska
Contents

From the editor: Political and moral will to end violence

Urszula Nowakowska against women: from declarations to
binding laws 2
Gender based violence: what it means and
what harm it does? Introductory remarks 7
Herstory: Maria 10

Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

Carol Hagemann-White Legal frameworks for the protection

of women against violence: diversity and
the need for coordination 11
Roman Wieruszewski EU legal framework for combating gender
based violence 16
Liz Kelly What a waste: the case for an integrated
violence against women strategy 20
Rosa Logar National and international measures to
prevent domestic violence against women
and children 31
Herstory: Magda 38
Monika Ksieniewicz Council of Europe on violence against
women: genesis of the Convention 41
Parliaments united in combating domestic
violence against women: handbook for
parliamentarians 44
European Parliament resolution of 26
November 2009 on the elimination of
violence against women 52
Herstory: Dorota 58

5
 Co nte nt s
 

Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border

Andrzej Dominiczak: In defence of the “sacred family”: Polish

state against women’s rights 61
Małgorzata Dziewanowska, Airing the dirty laundry: exploring the
Viktoriya Khomuk, challenges of domestic violence in Poland
Liat Krawczyk: 65
Justyna Podlewska: Sanctioned rape 71
Danuta Duch: Money and power in the family 74
Herstory: Anna 84
Agnieszka Graff: The quagmire effect. On the special role
of the Catholic Church in Poland 85
Wanda Nowicka: Every sperm is sacred: gametes more
important than people 94
Adam Szymura: The scent of wild roses 97
Andrzej Dominiczak, Passion: women drop their masks and
Dagna Ślepowrońska: mend the world 104
Herstory: Ire na 108
Piotr Szumlewicz: Equal but cheaper: women’s capitalism is
not good for women 112
Ewa Majewska: The political economy of the ban on
abortion 117
Małgorzata Tarasiewicz: Polish women break the glass ceiling 122

6
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

Violence against women –
definition
The term “violence against women”
refers to any act of gender-based violence
which causes, or is likely to cause, phys-
ical, sexual or psychological harm or suf-
fering to women. It includes the threat of
such acts, coercion and arbitrary depriva-
tion of liberty, occurring either in public
or in private life.
This definition applies, among other
things, to violence occurring in the fam-
ily or home, including physical and men-
tal aggression, emotional and psycholog-
ical abuse, rape and sexual abuse, incest,
rape between spouses, regular or occa-
sional partners and cohabitants, “honour”
crimes, genital and sexual mutilation,
and other traditional practices which are
harmful to women, for example, forced
marriages.
7
Gender based
violence: what it
means and what
harm it does?
Introductory
remarks
Domestic violence is a  major health
problem and one of the main causes of
death or disability for women of repro-
ductive age
Gender-based violence, including
rape, domestic violence, mutilation, mur-
der and sexual abuse is a profound health
problem and a significant cause of female
morbidity and mortality. While violence
committed within the family is still con-
sidered to be a  private matter, statistics
shows that for women between 16 and 44
years of age, domestic violence is thought
to be the major cause of death and inva-
lidity, ahead of cancer, road accidents and
even war.2 Therefore, domestic violence
*
Introductory section has been based on the first
part of the publication by the Council of Europe
“Handbook for Parliamentarians – Parliaments
United in Combating Domestic Violence Against
Women”.
2
Council of Europe Recommendation 1582
(27/09/2002)
 G e n d e r b a s e d v i o l e n ce : w h at i t m e a n s a n d w h at h a rm it does? Introduc tor y remarks
 

should be treated as a political and public proportion of women in the total popula-
problem, and a violation of human rights.  tion who have suffered acts of violence)
varies with the method used, but an over-
view shows that no less that one quarter of
Domestic violence is an assault
all women in the countries surveyed have
on human dignity experienced physical violence at least once
It is internationally recognised that vi- in their adult lives, and that more than one
olence against women, including domes- tenth have suffered sexual violence involv-
tic violence, is an assault on human dig- ing the use of force.3 The perpetrators were
nity. A  global problem, it has been dis- usually men in their immediate circles –
cussed at various international confer- most frequently partners and ex-partners.
ences and in various international texts A  significant number of women are vic-
(United Nations Conference on Human tims of domestic abuse – repeated physical,
Rights, Vienna, 1993; Declaration on the emotional and sexual abuse which can, and
Elimination of Violence against Women, does, cause fear, distress and, very often,
adopted by the General Assembly of the damage to women’s health. Studies cur-
United Nations on 20 December 1993; rently under way in several countries sug-
4th World Conference on Women, Beijing, gest that 12% to 15% of all women have
1995). One result of all this has been the been in a relationship of domestic abuse af-
appointment of a  special United Nations ter the age of 16. The figures for physical
Rapporteur on violence against wom- and sexual assault by former partners, with
en, its causes and its consequences. On whom the victims are no longer living, are
the International Day for the Elimination a good deal higher – which shows that the
of Violence against Women, the current danger persists, even when women have
Special Rapporteur, Ms Yakin Ertürk, de- ended abusive relationships.4 Alas, these
clared that, notwithstanding decades of figures do not reflect the full reality of do-
effort to eliminate violence against wom- mestic violence against women, but merely
en, this was still “perhaps the most wide- the tip of the iceberg.
spread human rights violation”.
For many years, the Council of Europe,
Combating violence against
too, has been working on the various hu-
man rights aspects of this problem. On 30
women – a positive obligation
April 2002, the Committee of Ministers for states
adopted Recommendation Rec (2002)5 on All the Council of Europe’s mem-
the protection of women against violence, ber states have ratified the United Na-
which provides a  framework for a  global
3
According to numerous recent studies, the pro-
approach.
portion of women who have experienced violence
at the hands of their husbands or partners is actu-
ally much higher and exceeds 50%. Compare for
Domestic violence – extent of the example: Liz Kelly, What a Waste: The Case for an
Integrated Violence Against Women Strategy (in this
problem in Europe volume).
4
Source: CDEG (2006) 3, Combating violence against
Since 1995, an increasing number of women: stocktaking study on the measures and ac-
European states have launched large-scale tions taken in Council of Europe member states, Dr
Carol Hagemann- White, University of Osnabrück,
surveys to gauge the extent of violence
Germany, Directorate General of Human Rights,
against women. The prevalence figure (the Strasbourg, 2006, pp. 9-10.

8
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

tions Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women.
In its General Recommendation No. 12 on
violence against women (6 March 1989),
the Committee on the Elimination of Dis-
crimination against Women, which moni-
tors compliance with the Convention, not-
ed that states parties are required to act
to protect women against violence of any
Domestic violence – the cost
kind occurring within the family.
In General Recommendation No. 19
to the community
(29 January 1992), the Committee further
made the point that: “Under general inter-
national law and specific human rights cov-
enants, states may also be responsible for
private acts if they fail to act with due dil-
igence to prevent violations of rights or to
investigate and punish acts of violence, and
for providing compensation.” It according-
ly recommended that “states parties should
take appropriate and effective measures to
overcome all forms of gender-based vio-
lence, whether by public or private act”.
The European Court of Human Rights
regularly reminds Council of Europe
member states that the European Con-
vention on Human Rights requires them
to pass and enforce laws to ensure that
the rights listed in the text are respect-
ed, inter alia, by adopting “measures de-
signed to secure respect for private life
even in the sphere of the relations of indi-
viduals between them- selves”.5
Finally, a declaration adopted at the 3rd
Council of Europe Conference on Equali-
ty between Women and Men (Rome, 21-22
October 1993) noted that “the responsibil-
ity of states is engaged with regard to acts
5
Source: ECHR, case of X and Y v. the Nether-
lands, No. 8978/80, judgment of 26 March 1985,
and ECHR, case of M. C. v. Bulgaria, No. 39272/98,
judgment of 4 December 2003.
9
 

of violence carried out by public officials,
and may also be engaged with regard to
private acts of violence, if the state does
not take action with sufficient diligence to
prevent the violation of rights or investi-
gate acts of violence, to sanction them and
provide support for the victims”.
Gender-based violence affects not
only the immediate victims but also the
entire community. The high cost of gen-
der-based violence is a  serious bur- den
on society, governments, individuals, or-
ganisations and businesses – which is why
it has ceased to be just a private problem,
and become a social and public problem,
in urgent need of a solution.
Some Council of Europe member states
have actually estimated the costs involved.
Most of their research focuses on domestic
violence against women – physical, psy-
chological or sexual violence perpetrat-
ed by men, with women as the victims.
Its costs are felt across a broad spectrum:
health care, social services, the economy,
police, criminal and civil justice, and hous-
ing. These studies vary greatly in meth-
od and scope, making it hard to generalise
from them. Taking a  mean figure, €40 is
the likeliest estimate we have of the annu-
al per capita cost. In other words, a coun-
try with a population of 10 million faces an
annual bill of some €400 million for inter-
vention, policing, health care and services,
while the annual cost of domestic violence
alone in the whole Council of Europe area
runs to at least €33 billion.6
6
Source: CDEG (2006) 3, op. cit., pp.10-12
 H e r st o r y

The story I met my future husband at the wedding of his cousin. He was the
best man and I was the bridesmaid. He immediately took a fan-
of Maria cy of me. At that time, I was still not interested in men, so I hard-
ly took any notice of him. Two or three months after the wedding,
I went to a dance in a nearby village. I walked alone through the
forest. Suddenly, someone threw a sack over my head, struck me
and raped me. It was him – the best man from the wedding.
Next day, he came to my mother and told her what he had
done. He wanted to marry me. Some time later, when it turned out
that I was pregnant, I had no choice. I married him. My family in-
sisted, actually forced me to do so. But I made it clear: I told him
that I would marry him just because of the child but there will be
no love between us. Maybe some day, I can forgive him. I was 17
years old and he was about 9 years older. He drank a lot. He said
he would try to be a good husband, but I still did not like him.
Soon, I gave birth to a  daughter. Over the next three years
our marriage was not bad. Something began to deteriorate when
I moved out from my mother, He fell into bad company and start-
ed to drink more again. He beat me often. He was drunk eve-
ry day, acted like my lord and master and did not tolerate any
objection. He threatened me that he would beat me even more,
if I breathed a word to anyone – he even threatened to kill me.
Once, a cousin of my husband dropped a hint that he was treat-
ed psychiatrically. His family denied it.
He often beat me so badly that I lost consciousness. He beat
the children too. He was not interested in our family any more.
He did not give me any money. After another fight I fled to my
mother. Next day, he came, threw himself on his knees and apol-
ogized. I returned to him. Soon I ran away again and came back
to him again. When I couldn’t stand it any more, I fought off. He
called me nasty names.
I  got a  black market job. He didn’t like it. At that time, my
mother took care of our six children, who were terribly afraid of
their father. They turned to me with everything.
Once, I asked for police assistance. But they are not interest-
ed in family matters. Only when I was badly battered, my hus-
band was arrested and convicted of cruelty to his family. He was
fined 620 PLN1, which caused great damage to the family budg-
et. He tried to sexually harass our daughters. I told him then that
I would never allow incest. And so it was for 25 years.
One Children’s Day, he attacked me with an axe. I clasped
his hand and somehow he was struck with the head of the axe.
My daughter called the doctor. I was in shock. I was sentenced
to 9 years in jail. I have already served 3 years and 6 months.
I did not want this tragedy. I was at the end of my tether.

1
About 150 euros

10
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
Carol Hagemann-White
In 1993, the year of the Maastricht trea-
ty, both the United Nations General As-
sembly and the Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe recognized violence
against women as a  grave human rights
violation. As a  result, the Member States
must not only refrain from violating rights
directly, but also exercise ‘due diligence’ in
redressing violations and in protecting citi-
zens from further abuses. To this end, “Rec-
ommendation Rec (2002)5 on the protection
of women against violence”, adopted by the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of
Europe in April 2002, presented a compre-
hensive approach. It outlines a  consensus
on general principles and introduces neces-
sary measures in services, legislation, po-
licing, work with perpetrators, awareness-
raising, education, training and data collec-
tion. Beginning in 2006, the “Campaign to
combat violence against women, including
domestic violence” has aimed to consoli-
date this consensus.
Member states are urged to ensure
that every act of violence against wom-
en is punishable, to take swift and effec-
tive action against perpetrators, to inves-
tigate and prosecute acts of violence and
to enable the public prosecutor to initi-
11
Legal frameworks
for the protection
of women against
violence: diversity
and the need for
coordination*
ate prosecution. With respect to civil law,
the recommendation is less explicit, men-
tioning only compensation for damag-
es. Measures of protection, such as ban-
ning a perpetrator from the home, are de-
scribed only as actions by the judiciary.
There is no mention of the victim’s right
to request such measures or to decide if
these fit her needs. Thus, within the triple
obligation of the state – to prevent, pro-
tect and punish human rights violations –
the role of legal measures is most clearly
set forth with regard to punishment. This
is a weakness of the Recommendation, es-
pecially since, overall, the former social-
ist countries in Europe cannot build on
a strong tradition of civil law and citizen’s
rights. It is to be hoped that the present
process of drafting a European Convention
on Violence Against Women will overcome
some of these weaknesses as awareness of
the complexity of the problem has grown.
The Recommendation articulates as
its fundamental principle that all meas-
* This is the text of the address delivered at the
hearing on violence against women held in the
European Parliament in Brussels on 10 Decem-
ber 2009.
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Le g a l f ra m e wo r k s f o r t h e p ro te c t i o n o f wo m e n a g a i nst violence: diversit y and the need for coordination
 
ures should be aimed at empowering vic-
timized women and their free exercise of
basic rights, ensuring all necessary meas-
ures of protection, support, and services.
Such measures require legislative frame-
works if they are to be equally available to
all, ranging from civil law redress to the
regulation of access to benefits, and they
also require specifically trained services.
Even with prolonged efforts to reduce vi-
olence against women, it has been found
that criminal law measures are never
enough, and can be even completely inef-
fective, unless flanking measures are tak-
en. Family law, police law, social welfare
and labour law are all involved in securing
women’s rights and responding adequate-
ly to violence. Since legal systems and so-
cial institutions differ, strategies must be
crafted differently to fit each country. With
the Lisbon treaty, the EU has new poten-
tial for ensuring that diverse countries all
meet minimum standards of life free from
violence.
Thus, there are two sides to legal strat-
egy: deterrence and punishment of acts
that cannot be tolerated, and protection
from harm, including support of recovery
and of self-determination for victims. In
practice, these two interact in a number of
ways. Most obviously, sanctions against vi-
olence are rarely effective unless victims/
witnesses are able and willing to co-op-
erate. Precisely because violence against
women is a  structural problem in socie-
ty, victims often find it extremely diffi-
cult to pursue sanctions. The state must
not make victims responsible for the de-
cision to prosecute. Furthermore, penal-
ties can rebound with harm to the victim,
for example, when he is made to pay a fine
and she is financially dependent on him,
or when it is easy for him to intimidate
her or take revenge. On the other hand,
sanctions serve justice and underscore for
the victimized woman that she has rights.
To achieve this, however, legal measures
12
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
must be carefully set up and actively mon-
itored, so that they ensure her safety and
well-being throughout. With fundamental
rights as the common foundation, Europe
cannot accept different degrees of safe-
ty depending on where women happen to
live, and indeed, economically cannot af-
ford to be indifferent to violence.
In 2005, my team assessed the availa-
ble studies calculating the cost of violence
against women in Europe1. The estimates
were conservative, since most had preva-
lence data only for domestic violence, and
focused on policing, health care and shel-
ter. Even so, the middle range of estimates
lay between 20 to 60 Euros for every per-
son in the population per year. On average,
then, a  country with a  population of 10
million would be carrying a financial bur-
den of intervention, policing, health care
and services of at least 400 million Euros
each year merely due to violence against
women. This money is not being spent ef-
fectively, because it is deployed neither to
stop violence from continuing, nor to pre-
vent it. The real costs however are higher
than these calculations show. Quite aside
from the cost in fear, pain and suffering
incurred by women, unchecked violence
leads to substantial losses in business due
to ill-health consequences, such as unpre-
dictable absenteeism from work, reduced
productivity, poor concentration and ac-
cidents. Considerable costs accrue from
long-term diminishment of health status,
since women with a history of violence not
only require on average more health care,
they are more likely to need, for exam-
ple, the support of their adult children lat-
er in life. Not included at all in such calcu-
lations are the traumatic long-term effects
of violence on women and children. Vio-
lence in the home breaks up the family as
1
Hagemann-White, Carol (2006): Combating vio-
lence against women: Stocktaking study on the
measures and actions taken in Council of Europe
member States. Strasbourg: Council of Europe

a unit, first destroying it within and in time
breaking it apart; it undermines the func-
tions and tasks of families in the modern
world. The discussion of legislation poses
the question of the political will to over-
come violence against women by investing
in policy, prevention and provision. Allow-
ing gender based violence to continue and
to reproduce itself not only ignores human
rights, it is also expensive.
In the past decade, legislation has be-
come a major arena in Europe for address-
ing the various forms of violence against
women. Measures may be located in crim-
inal law, civil law, administrative law (e.g.
police law, procedural law), family law or
social welfare law. These domains of the
law are connected in different ways in dif-
ferent legal systems. Furthermore, many
states interpret existing laws (for example,
with regulations, protocols, guidelines or
ordinances) to make their application clear.
On the surface, there seems to be
growing agreement on what is needed (ex-
pressed in a number of parliamentary reso-
lutions at the European level – see Appen-
dix). For example, (1) there is widespread
agreement that rape should be defined
more broadly than in the past and the law
should be based on the right to sexual self-
determination, penalizing different forms
of sexual assault and abolishing exemp-
tions for rape within marriage. (2) There
is an overall trend to see abuse and vio-
lence within an intimate partner relation-
ship as a more serious, rather than a less
serious offence. In particular, there should
be an end to impunity: (3) The COE recom-
mendation that member states should en-
sure that criminal proceedings can be ini-
tiated by the public prosecutor has lead to
number of changes defining some forms
of violence against women as ex officio of-
fences. (4) The idea that the victim of do-
mestic violence should have the right to
stay in her home, and it is the perpetrator
who should be forced to leave, has gained
13
Carol Hagemann-White  

currency across Europe. It is increasingly
recognized as the duty of the state, and in
particular of the police and the courts, to
protect women from further violence, and
(5) legal provisions for restraining orders
and civil protection orders are being insti-
tuted, although – regrettably – only for do-
mestic violence, and seldom for protection
against stalking or the threats following
sexual assault, for example.
As heartening as such trends may
seem, a  closer look reveals that, in fact,
these measures can mean very different
things.
For example, the Regan/Kelly report2
based on questionnaire responses from 21
member states for the period 1980-2003
found conviction rates for rape to be sink-
ing – in some cases dramatically – across
Europe, while women’s reporting of sexual
attacks has increased. Thus, while the im-
provements in rape laws seem to have en-
couraged women in many European coun-
tries to report rapes – or taught police to
actually record the rape complaints that
they may have shrugged off in the past
– the number of convictions has not ris-
en accordingly, and even went down. The
great majority of European countries still
define rape as sexual intercourse imposed
through the use of force, or when a wom-
an is defenceless and unable to resist. Very
few make lack of consent the measure of
rape, as in the UK and in Belgium, where
it is a sexual offence if the perpetrator ei-
ther knows that the other person does not
consent, or is reckless regarding consent.
There are some tensions and contra-
dictions among the measures being rec-
ommended. Nearly all countries in the
Council of Europe now penalize rape with-
in marriage, at least nominally. Several
member states (Greece, France) have re-
cently lifted the marital exemption, and
2
Regan, Linda and Kelly, Liz, Rape: still a forgot-
ten issue. Briefing document for strengthening
the linkages, London 2003
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Le g a l f ra m e wo r k s f o r t h e p ro te c t i o n o f wo m e n a g a i nst violence: diversit y and the need for coordination
 
the few remaining may be expected to fol-
low. However, provisions that violence
within the family or within couple rela-
tionships is an aggravated offence calling
for a higher penalty are not easy to recon-
cile with the goal of removing special pro-
visions and treating every act of violence
against a woman as equally serious. There
is, after all, a  long and oppressive tradi-
tion of taking sexual violence lightly, par-
ticularly if the woman had been out of the
house in public places without a  man to
protect her. Surely we don’t want to re-
turn to that. Some of these laws are gener-
al procedural provisions applying to many
offences, in other cases the penal codes
now define some acts of bodily harm as
a distinct, more serious offence, for exam-
ple “maltreatment of a  family member”.
These provisions are rarely gender-sensi-
tive and might penalize a woman who acts
in self-defence. And alongside the defini-
tion of aggravating circumstances we also
find, sometimes in the same legal system,
rules requiring a  complaint of the victim,
a condition traditionally attached to minor
offences such as trespassing.
Legislation defining violence within
the couple relationship as an ex officio of-
fence – meaning that the public prosecu-
tor should initiate prosecution – are not
infrequently undercut by provisions per-
mitting the victim to agree that prose-
cution be dropped. This exposes the vic-
timized women to pressure, coercion or
threats of retaliation if she does not with-
draw her complaint. Furthermore, many
legal systems allow prosecutors to set pri-
orities and handle “everyday” cases of vi-
olence against women as not urgent; in-
deed, they may stay on the waiting list
for so long that prosecution is precluded.
Country by country, a closer look must be
taken at when and why prosecution is ini-
tiated and pursued by the statutory agen-
cy responsible for punishing human rights
violations.
14
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Protective measures are found in
a  wide range of approaches. Austria pio-
neered the idea of evicting the perpetra-
tor. Police officers are required to expel
from the home a person who poses a dan-
ger and prohibit his return for a  set pe-
riod. The decision lies with the police of-
ficers, not with the victim. Data are sent
to an advisory centre within 24 hours to
ensure that the victim receives informa-
tion and support. At the women’s request,
a  court order can extend the police ban.
This idea of evicting the perpetrator has
found an echo in other countries, and the
Parliamentary Assembly declared it one of
7 priority measures for all member states.
But in many laws, the police are not au-
thorized to act directly, and a  court evic-
tion order can only be obtained after crim-
inal proceedings have begun. Such meas-
ures could be self-defeating, since a wom-
an who is not in safety from further threats
and violence is unlikely to take the risk of
making a statement, and as a result, there
is likely to be no criminal case.
Similarly, restraining orders are being
introduced as measures of protection, at
least for women exposed to domestic vi-
olence, but they also can be dependent on
criminal proceedings. Yet women as citi-
zens must have the right to ask for pro-
tection from potential illegal actions before
they occur, and not have to wait until after
harm has been done. Many of the more re-
cent legal provisions for restraining orders
also lack any enforcement measures to en-
sure compliance.
Most of the violence experienced by
women is perpetrated by men within their
circle of social relationships. But people
generally hesitate to take a  family mem-
ber to court. Overwhelmingly, what wom-
en want is to feel safe from further threat
of violence – not incidentally, the Swed-
ish Comprehensive Act in 1998 was called
“Women’s peace”. Our research network
“Coordination Action on Human Rights

Violations”3 carried out multi-country re-
views of evaluation results, with reports
on the justice system as an arena for the
protection of human rights for women and
children4, and on agencies and services5.
Together, they underline that the inter­
actions among measures are absolutely
crucial to progress. As well as evaluating
legislation and services separately, assess-
ing the interaction between the two is es-
sential to the evaluation of good practice.
Given the differences among legal sys-
tems and institutional regimes, it is not
easy to declare a model legal framework to
be applied across Europe. Not only do com-
mon law and codified law differ in how they
can regulate rights and penalties; the pow-
ers and responsibilities of the police, prose-
cutors and judges differ a great deal as well.
It may be easier to achieve agreement if we
approach the law from the point of view of
outcomes, and then work back from there to
procedures. For example, it is essential that
some statutory agency should be able to
take action and ensure the immediate safe-
ty of a victim of violence without her need-
ing to ask for it, since only when the vic-
tim is safe from threats or intimidation can
criminal justice have any chance of success.
In addition, a woman who has concrete rea-
sons to fear any kind of gender-based vio-
lence should be able to request a court in-
junction and to have it enforced, since it
can hardly be called a violation of citizen’s
3
The “Co-ordination Action on Human Rights
Violations” is a  broad-based collaboration be-
tween research institutions, policy networks,
and individual researchers from 23 European
countries, funded 2004-2007 in the European
Commission’s 6th Framework Programme.
4
Humphreys, Cathy and Carter, Rachel: The jus-
tice system as an arena for the protection of hu-
man rights for women and children experiencing
violence and abuse, 2006, www.cahrv.uni-osna-
brueck.de
5
Hanmer, Jalna, Gloor, Daniela and Meier,
Hanna: Agencies and evaluation of good prac-
tice: domestic violence, rape and sexual assault,
2006, , www.cahrv.uni-osnabrueck.de
Carol Hagemann-White  

rights to tell a man that he must not break
the law. However, in each country the spe-
cific legal frameworks and procedures that
can have this effect may be different.
In January, a feasibility study will begin
to assess the possibilities, opportunities and
needs to standardise national legislation on
gender violence and violence against chil-
dren in the European Union. It will build on
a  current Daphne project mapping legisla-
tion and its implementation in 38 Europe-
an countries. Today’s event is important,
because it is vital that those who have met
the challenges up front in practice remain
in dialogue with research-based analysis
and with policy-makers, if we are to make
real progress towards overcoming violence
against women.
Appendix
In 2007, at the halfway-point of the Campaign,
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe defined the following (in recommen-
dation 1817) as priority measures6:
ƒƒ 5.1 making domestic violence against
women, including marital rape, a crimi-
nal offence;
ƒƒ 5.2. regarding violence perpetrated be-
tween (former) partners as an aggravat-
ing circumstance;
ƒƒ 5.3. setting up sufficient numbers of safe
emergency shelters;
ƒƒ 5.4. making provisions to remove violent
spouses or partners and take out protec-
tion orders against perpetrators;
ƒƒ 5.5. guaranteeing effective access to the
courts and to protection measures for
victims;
ƒƒ 5.6. allocating sufficient budgetary resourc-
es for the implementation of the law;
ƒƒ 5.7. monitoring the application of laws
on combating violence against women
passed by parliament.
6
See http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/
Documents/AdoptedText/ta07/EREC1817.htm
15 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Roman Wieruszewski
The purpose of this presentation is to ex-
amine the need and possibility of adopt-
ing, within the context of the EU, a direc-
tive dealing with the problem of domestic
and gender based violence.1 I  will argue
that contrary to some opinions, the EU
has not only competence to adopt such an
instrument but in fact – in particular after
the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty –
is under obligation to do so.2
1
In the present text I  am using expressions
„domestic violence“ and “gender based vio-
lence“ inter-changeably.
2
The content and wording of the proposed
directive goes beyond the scope of this paper.
16
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
EU legal
framework
for combating
gender based
violence
Gender based violence belongs to
the most widespread and serious human
rights violations, which occur all over the
world. It should be recognized that it is
a  universal phenomenon, which tran-
scends frontiers, cultures and social class-
es. The experience of the United Nations
treaty bodies, in particular Human Rights
Committee (HRC) and Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), proves that not a  sin-
gle country in the world is able to effec-
tively eliminate this crime. Victims of this
form of violation are mainly women. It is
already well established interpretation of
international human rights law that do-
mestic violence may constitute torture,
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
and the violation of the right to life, to
dignity, to privacy, to liberty and securi-
ty of person, etc. At the same time, both,
the above mentioned UN treaty bodies
and the European Court of Human Rights
have clearly ruled that gender based vio-
lence is a form of discrimination that seri-
ously diminishes women’s ability to enjoy

rights and freedoms on the basis of equal-
ity with men.
In its General Recommendation No 19
CEDAW stated as follows: „Gender based
violence which impairs or nullifies the en-
joyment by women of human rights and
fundamental freedoms under general in-
ternational law or under human rights
conventions, is discrimination within the
meaning of article 1 of the Convention.“
The Committee also pointed out that dis-
crimination under the Convention „is not
restricted to action by or behalf of Gov-
ernments. /…/ Under general internation-
al law and specific human rights cove-
nants, States may also be responsible for
private acts if they fail to act with due dil-
igence to prevent violations of rights or
to investigate and punish acts of violence,
and for providing compensations“.
At present, in view of the above said
facts, there is no doubt that as far as the
universal system of human rights protec-
tion is concerned, domestic violence is
considered as the unlawful discrimination
of women. All EU countries are parties to
the CEDAW convention and therefore are
obligated to respect its provisions as im-
plemented by the CEDAW Committee.
Let us also briefly examine the same
problem from the point of view of the
European Convention for the Protec-
tion of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms. The European Court of Human
Rights recently issued a  judgement of
particular importance from the perspec-
tive of gender based violence. In the case
Opuz v. Turkey delivered on 9 June 20093,
the Court ruled: „Bearing in mind its find-
ing above that the general and discrimi-
natory judicial passivity in Turkey, albe-
it unintentional, mainly affected wom-
en, the Court considers that the violence
suffered by the applicant and her moth-
er may be regarded as gender-based vi-
3
Case 33401/02
17
R oman Wieruszewski  

olence, which is a  form of discrimina-
tion against women. Despite the reforms
carried out by the Government in recent
years, the overall unresponsiveness of the
judicial system and impunity enjoyed by
the aggressors, as found in the instant
case, indicated that there was insufficient
commitment to take appropriate action to
address domestic violence…” As a result
of that finding, „the Court concludes that
there has been a violation of Article 14, in
conjunction with Articles 2 and 3 of the
Convention, in the instant case.“4
The Council of Europe has also re-
cently initiated efforts aiming at prepar-
ing a legally binding instrument (conven-
tion) with the focus to eliminate violence
against women, as it „considers violence
against women a  human rights violation
and an obstacle in achieving full equality
between women and men“.5
As is obvious from the above, far from
exhaustive presentation of internation-
al human rights standards, domestic vi-
olence has been repeatedly recognized as
the serious human rights violation, which
constitutes at the same time gender based
discrimination. The European Parliament
in its resolution of 26 November 2009 on
the elimination of violence against wom-
en, inter alia „calls on the Commission to
start working on drafting a  proposal for
a  comprehensive directive on action to
prevent and combat all forms of violence
against women“.
In order to answer the question if the
EU has a competence to adopt such a di-
rective, let us recall the following.
The protection of human rights in
the European Union has had a  long last-
ing tradition. Starting from a  landmark
judgment of the European Court of Jus-
4
Art. 14 prohibits discrimination.
5
See Ad hoc Committee on Preventing and Com-
bating Violence against Women and Domestic
Violence, Interim Report, Strasbourg, 27 May
2009, CAHVIO (2009) 4 FIN.
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 E U l e g a l f ra m e wo r k f o r co m b at i n g g e n d e r b a s e d v i o l ence
 

tice (ECJ) in the case Stauder v  City of plied to interpretation and evaluation of
Ulm6 it became clear that human rights, legality of the EU institutions acts and the
called fundamental rights, belong to the Member States acts when implementing
general principles of the Community law the law of the European Union.
and therefore the ECJ has a  jurisdiction Gender equality enjoys a  privileged
in those types of cases. ECJ also stated status under the UE law. As has been
that: „..the Community […] is not mere- rightly pointed out: „It is an EC ‚task‘ and
ly an economic union but is at the same ‚aim‘ to ‚eliminate inequalities‘ and ‚pro-
time intended, by common action, to en- mote‘ gender equality in all fields. This
sure social progress and seek constant im- ‚positive obligation‘ is also incumbent on
provement of the living and working con- the EU, since (substantive) gender equal-
ditions of the peoples of Europe. The eco- ity as a  fundamental right is its corner-
nomic aim pursued by Article 119 [EC]. stone, and on Member Sates, via their
[…] is secondary to the social aim pursued duty of ‚loyal cooperation‘. Gender equal-
by the same provisions, which constitute ity – which is also a strategic Lisbon goal
the expression of a  fundamental human – is thus an essential element of Europe-
right.“7 In another ruling, the ECJ stated an identity“.9
that: „[…] respect of fundamental rights The entry into force of the Lisbon
is a condition of the legality of Community Treaty has significantly strengthened
acts.“8 The Court, when defining Commu- the protection and promotion of human
nity rights and principles to be followed rights within the EU. The Treaty grants
within the framework of Community has legal value to the Charter of Fundamental
made references not only to the Europe- Rights. It also provides for the legal basis
an Convention but also other internation- of the EU accession to the ECHR. These
al agreements, including the European provisions are fundamental for enhance-
Social Charter, International Covenant on ment of the coherence and effectiveness
Civil and Political Rights, etc. The Court of the European system of human rights
also made references to national laws and protection.
traditions. In that way the Court began to In accordance with Article 6 (1) of the
lay down fundamental human rights as Treaty on European Union, the Charter
part of the European Community law. of Fundamental Rights of the European
It has been established that the sourc- Union of 7 December 2000, as adapted at
es of fundamental rights within the EU Strasbourg, on 12 December 2007, “shall
law may be traced to two different sets have the same legal value as the Trea-
of laws. The first are constitutional tradi- ties“. It means that the Charter is now
tions of the Member States and the sec- a part of the primary law of the EU. How-
ond - international agreements to which ever, Article 6 (1) names three limits as
the Member Sates are parties, in particu- to the scope of application of the Charter:
lar the European Convention for the Pro- ƒƒ „the provisions of the Charter shall not
tection of Human Rights and Fundamen- extend in any way the competences of
tal Freedoms. The fundamental rights as the Union as defined in the treaties“10;
general principles of the EU have been ap-
9
See, Sophia Koukoulis – Spiliotopoulos, The
6
Case 29/96 of 12 November 1969, ECR 1969, amended equal treatment directive (2002/73):
p. 419. an expression of constitutional principles/funda-
7
Joined cases C-270/97 and C-271/97 Deutsche mental rights, 12 MJ 4 (2005).
Post AG v.Sievers [2000] ECR I-933, paras. 55, 57. 10
Declaration No 1 to the Charter states that
8
Opinion 2/94 [1996] ECR I-1759, para. 34. it „does not extend the field of application of

18
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

ƒƒ it is emphasised that fundamental
rights included in the Charter must
be interpreted in accordance with the
provisions of the Title VII of the Char-
ter;
ƒƒ such interpretation must give due re-
gard to the Explanation attached to
the Charter.11
The last limitation was specified in the
above mentioned Declaration No. 1, ac-
cording to which the Charter, „which has
legally binding force, confirms the funda-
mental rights guaranteed by the Europe-
an Convention for the Protection of Hu-
man Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
as they result from the constitutional tra-
ditions common to the Member States“.
Article 51(1) of the Charter states that
the provisions of the Charter are to be ap-
plied to the Union and Member States‘
institutions „only when they are imple-
menting Union’s law“, with the reserva-
tion that the Member States are to respect
„the limits of the powers of the Union as
conferred on it in the Treaties“.
Article 52 (2) states that the rights
recognised in the Charter „for which pro-
visions are made in the Treaties shall be
exercised under the conditions and within
the limits defined by those treaties“.
Article 52 (3) confirms that the fun-
damental rights included in the Char-
ter, which correspond to the rights guar-
anteed in the European Convention have
the „same meaning and scope“ as in that
Convention.
The analysis of the provisions of the
Charter from the perspective of domestic
the Union law beyond the powers of the Un-
ion or establish any new power or task for the
Union, or modify powers and tasks as defined
by the Treaties“. See Final Act of the Intergov-
ernmental Conference of the Member States.
Document No. CIG 15/07, Brussels, 3 Decem-
ber 2007.
11
Their basic aim is to ensure conformity of the
interpretation of the Charter’s provisions with
those of the European Convention.
19
R oman Wieruszewski  

violence leads to the conclusion that fol-
lowing rights are relevant in that context:
art. 1 – human dignity, art. 3 – right to
a physical integrity, art. 4 – prohibition of
torture and inhuman or degrading treat-
ment or punishment, art. 6 – right to per-
sonal liberty and security, art. 7 – respect
for private and family life, art. 21 – prohi-
bition of discrimination, art. 23 – equali-
ty between men and women. However in
order to determine if the EU has a  com-
petence to act in that scope we have to
check if the Union indeed has in that area
„a power or task as defined by the Trea-
ties“. It means that it is not enough to
state an obvious fact that domestic vio-
lence belongs to the most serious human
rights violations and that it runs against
the letter and spirit of the Charter. We
also need to look more carefully into the
Treaties.
Art 2 TUE articulates basic principles
and axiological foundations of the EU:
„The Union is founded on the values of re-
spect for human dignity, freedom, democ-
racy, equality, the rule of law and respect
for human rights, including the rights of
persons belonging to minorities. These
values are common to the Member States
in a  society in which pluralism, non-dis-
crimination, tolerance, justice, solidari-
ty and equality between women and men
prevail“.
According to art. 3 (former 2) TEU, the
Union „/…/shall combat social exclusion
and discrimination, and shall promote so-
cial justice and protection, equality be-
tween women and men, solidarity be-
tween generations and protection of the
rights of the child.“
It has been already proved beyond any
doubt that domestic violence, being in
fact a  gender-based violence, has a  very
serious discriminatory effect on women.
In that sense its widespread existence un-
dermines efforts aimed at combating the
above-mentioned discrimination of wom-
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 E U l e g a l f ra m e wo r k f o r co m b at i n g g e n d e r b a s e d v i o l ence
 

en. Regulations concerning this problem pornography13, combating racism and

belong to the area of freedom, security xenophobia14, combating trafficking of
and justice. According the Lisbon Treaty, people15 and what is particularly relevant
that area now belongs to the shared com- in the context of gender based violence
petences between the Union and Member – the position of victims in criminal pro-
States.12 In the case of shared competenc- ceedings16, by proposing to adopt certain
es, according the art. 2 (2) TFEU „When measures through the so called frame-
the Treaties confer on the Union a  com- work decisions. The in depth analysis of
petence shared with the Member States effectiveness of those decisions goes be-
in a specific area, the Union and the Mem- yond the scope of that paper, however, it
ber States may legislate and adopt legal- seems clear that their results are not ade-
ly binding acts in that area“. It means quate to needs and expectations. It means
that the Union may adopt a  Directive in that stronger measures are required.
the area of freedom, security and justice, At present, based on the Lisbon Trea-
hence also combating domestic violence. ty, with regard to gender-based violence,
In fact one may argue that the Un- the Union is able to use more effective
ion is obliged to act in that area. Let us means by adopting a  well designed and
recall provisions of art. 8 TFEU (former elaborated Directive. If the Union is to
3 (2)) „In all its activities the Union shall face seriously its obligation to effectively
aim to eliminate inequalities, and to pro- challenge gender based discrimination, it
mote equality, between men and wom- cannot avoid to act in the area of domes-
en“. Art 10 – „In defining and implement- tic, gender based violence. The proposed
ing its policies and activities, the Union directive should be developed in a  wide,
shall aim to combat discrimination based teleological way, in the light of basic prin-
on sex,/…/“. Of crucial importance is, in ciples and fundamental rights, so that it
discussed context, art. 67 TFEU (former can be an effective tool for their substan-
61 TEU and 29 TFEU) – „ The Union shall tive implementation and contribute to
constitute an area of freedom, security safeguarding and enhancing the basic hu-
and justice with respect for fundamental man rights of the victims of gender based
rights and the different legal systems and violence.
traditions of the Member States.“
Under the previous treaty regime in
the area of freedom, security and justice
13
Framework decision of the Council - 2004/68/
WSiSW
the Union has dealt with such problems as 14
Framework decision of the Council -
sexual exploitation of children and child 2008/913/WSiSW
15
Framework decision of the Council -
2002/629/WSiSW
12
See art 4 (2) (j) of the Treaty on Functioning 16
Framework decision of the Council – 15 march
of the European Union (TFEU) 2001

20
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Liz Kelly *
*
In cooperation with Jo Lovett
Introduction
‘How integrated can services
and responses be … can they be provided
on the basis of need?’
(Baroness Scotland, address to Big Conversation
on Sexual and Domestic Violence, Middlesbrough,
March 2004)
This paper proposes that there are sub-
stantial benefits for government, for vic-
tims/survivors and for the entire communi-
ty of an integrated strategy/approach to vio-
lence against women (VAW). The argument
is based on five fundamental premises.
ƒƒ There are connections across all forms
of VAW, which are currently being ig-
nored or missed.
ƒƒ The costs – to women and girls and the
public purse – of ineffective responses
represent a waste of potential in both
individual lives and for the communi-
ty as a whole.
21
What a waste:
the case for
an integrated
violence
against women
strategy
This article has been reprinted from the publication “Ten Years of
Austrian Anti-violence Legislation”, containing documentation
from the conference: “Stop Domestic Violence Against Women”,
Vienna 2008.
ƒƒ Not only is the prevalence of violence
and abuse seriously affecting at least
half of all women over their lifetime –
but it shows no sign of decreasing.
ƒƒ The demand for support and services
will remain at the current level or in-
crease over the next five to ten years.
ƒƒ Simply extending current forms of
provision will have little, if any, im-
pact on prevalence: preventing vio-
lence and abuse requires a more stra-
tegic approach.
The UK arguably has greater recogni-
tion of the range of forms of VAW at poli-
cy and practice levels and a more vibrant
research culture than many other Europe-
an countries. Unlike many of our neigh-
bours, however, we do not have a Plan of
Action or strategy against which to meas-
ure progress and achievements. A more
strategic response would maximise bene-
fits and enable the integration of a  long-
er-term preventative approach. Moving on
from the silo thinking that currently sepa-
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Wh at a   wa s te : t h e ca s e f o r a n i nte grate d v i o l e n ce a gainst women strategy
 

rates domestic violence, rape, female gen- can be critical in empowering victims to
ital mutilation (FGM), trafficking and other access support or may further entrap them
forms of VAW would present opportunities in shame and self-blame. Equally, network
to address seriously the question Baroness members may communicate intolerance of
Scotland poses and offer considerable po- actions to perpetrators or act in ways that
tentials for knowledge transfer. Whilst not further normalise their behaviour.
underestimating the serious challenges Other very important connections
developing such an approach represents, across forms of VAW include:
success would deliver a  raft of gains for ƒƒ long-standing myths and stereotypes
government, for agencies and service pro- that serve to justify or excuse abuse
viders and for women themselves. and/or to blame victims;
The most recent British Crime Survey ƒƒ the dynamics of power and control un-
(BCS) findings reveal that almost one in derlying violence;
two (45%) women has experienced some ƒƒ the social organisation of gender,
form of domestic violence, sexual assault which produces the distribution of vic-
or stalking.1 If we include sexual harass- timisation and perpetration;
ment and all the other forms of violence, ƒƒ high levels of under-reporting across
this issue directly touches more than half all forms of VAW;
of the female population. ƒƒ the justice gap in relation to prosecu-
tions and convictions;
ƒƒ the long-term psychological, social and
Mapping the connections
economic impacts and consequences;
There are many connections that cut ƒƒ the extent of repeat victimisation in
across all forms of VAW; some serve to women and girls ’ lives by both the
sustain it, others indicate common im- same and different perpetrators;
pacts and consequences. ƒƒ a  historic failure of state agencies to
Three research studies with chil- respond appropriately, promptly or
dren and young people2 reveal that at pre-emptively.
the most basic level the majority of chil-
dren and young people do not accept
Paying the price
VAW, but when asked more contextu-
al questions uncertainty and justification It is not just individuals who pay the
emerge, particularly among young men. price for ineffective responses, but all of
An Irish study3 also found that young peo- us, not least in the sense that VAW costs
ple had high levels of contact with har- substantial amounts to the public purse.
assment, abuse and violence in their own A  recent study in the UK only addresses
lives, including in the relationships with domestic violence and estimates a yearly
each other. cost of almost 6 billion pounds.
These data also highlight a further con- Governments have minimal choice
nection – who is first told or knows about about incurring these costs to the pub-
VAW: this is not agencies, but friends, lic purse and the economy more broadly.
family and even neighbours and work col- However, where they can exercise control
leagues. How informal networks respond is over whether expenditure takes place
within a  policy framework directed to-
1
Walby/ Allen
wards more effective, integrated and pre-
2
Burton/ Kitzinger; Mullender et al.; Regan/ Kelly
3
Regan/ Kelly ventative responses. There are short and

22
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

long-term savings to be made if interven-
tions protect from subsequent abuse and/
or the impacts of victimisation.
We pay an additional and unnecessary
cost when service provision duplicates
and/or fails to promote multi-agency links
and coordination.
There are some costs and consequenc-
es that are incalculable. Here we refer es-
pecially to the trafficked women who are
unable to access support in the UK, and
to women asylum seekers whose claims
on the grounds of having already been
abused, or facing gender violence if re-
turned, are refused. If they are returned
to their countries of origin with little if any
resources to resettle, develop a sustaina-
ble livelihood and create personal safety,
their futures are anything but assured.
Impacts of violence against
women and children
Impacts on women
The World Health Organization and
the Surgeon General of the USA have
identified VAW as one of the most signif-
Impacts on children
icant factors in women’s ill health, and
these impacts are compounded for those
who suffer serial victimisations. UK policy,
practice and training still tend to focus on
domestic violence OR rape and sexual as-
sault OR sexual exploitation, meaning few
workers or projects are confident work-
ing across these boundaries. For many of
their service users, however, this may be
their most critical need.
The ways gender violence is under-
stood, coupled with the humiliation of the
experience itself, often mean that wom-
en internalise a sense of shame and self-
blame. This is accentuated where the cul-
tural context of a  woman’s life includes
23
Liz Kelly  

beliefs about honour/purity/control of
sexuality. It was partly to avoid the stig-
ma which attaches to being a  ‘victim’ of
gender violence that led women’s organi-
sations to use the term ‘survivor’ to high-
light the strength, courage and creativity
women display in adversity.
Even in the most extreme contexts it
is a  mistake to view women and girls as
passive victims – they develop and use an
extraordinary array of resistance and sur-
vival strategies. Nonetheless, victimisa-
tion has effects, many of which are long
lasting. Research on the consequences
of a  range of forms of VAW reveals sub-
stantial commonalities, perhaps most elo-
quently explored by Judith Herman4.
There is no simple ‘recovery’ here; vi-
olence changes one’s sense of self and re-
lationship to others. It is also a reinforce-
ment of the gender order: an explicit mes-
sage about the relative worth and status
of women and men. But enhancing social
support and the capacity of formal and in-
formal responses to react appropriately
could make a difference to a huge number
of women, enabling them to ‘live’ rather
than just survive.
A  key factor undermining implemen-
tation and delivery, here and elsewhere,
has been the failure to make connections
between VAW and child abuse/children.
A few examples will illustrate this.
ƒƒ All forms of VAW and child sexual
abuse are under-reported, and where
reports are made cases have extreme-
ly high attrition rates. Despite these
connections, knowledge transfers
across the sectors have been minimal.
ƒƒ The connections between domestic
violence and child abuse have been
4
Herman 1992
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Wh at a   wa s te : t h e ca s e f o r a n i nte grate d v i o l e n ce a gainst women strategy
 

highlighted for more than a  decade, VAW, human rights,

including in virtually every child death
enquiry. However, because the areas
are not connected in law, policy and
most service provision, the changes
these insights should have prompted
have not been easy to achieve.
ƒƒ The underlying causes of, and social
supports for, violence against wom-
en and children are common, and ad-
dressing them through awareness and
prevent ion programmes has the po-
tential both to be cost effective and to
deepen understanding.5
Another connection, with many com-
plex implications, is that most VAW and
child abuse is committed by known per-
petrators. In both cases, however, public
policy tends to ricochet between an em-
phasis on the family or strangers (the ar-
chetypal ‘rapist’ or ‘paedophile’). The ma-
jority of sexual offenders against wom-
en and girls are neither – they are neigh-
bours, friends, work colleagues, recent
acquaintances and a range of profession-
als (teachers, doctors, therapists , sports
coaches).
Too many policy initiatives are built
around the high profile minority. An ex-
ample would be how a  community safe-
ty order on a sex offender, which requires
no contact with any children, could be en-
forced when an abusive father has been
awarded contact in family court proceed-
ings.
The failure to integrate what we al-
ready know – and we do know a lot about
connections – in the formulation and im-
plementation of policy is a significant im-
pediment to change.
5
The Zero Tolerance Campaign did this
throughout much of the 1990s, and much of its
impact was thought to stem from the connec-
tions and cumulative messages.
discrimination and equality
Violence has been a  feature of wom-
en’s and girls’ lives throughout recorded
history – it ranges from the cold, calcu-
lating entrapment in trafficking, to brutal
rape by a  recent acquaintance, through
to the excruciating intimate violation by
a family member. Over the last three dec-
ades VAW has been increasingly recog-
nised not only as a public issue, but also
a  matter of justice and human rights.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
stated that VAW is ‘… perhaps the most
shameful human rights violation, and it
is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows
no boundaries of geography, culture or
wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot
claim to be making real progress towards
equality, development and peace.’6
Looking at VAW from a human rights
perspective alerts us to the ways in which
gender violence denies women and girls
the most fundamental of human rights:
life, liberty, bodily integrity, freedom of
movement and dignity of the person. It
constrains women’s choices, options and
behaviour since personal safety features
so strongly in routine decision-making:
is it safe to travel alone?, to walk alone?,
to attend a  meeting at night?, to chal-
lenge a  statement or decision? Women
and girls are not able to occupy and use
public space with the same freedom and
ease as men and boys and interperson-
al relationships are frequently marred by
the threat and reality of abuse. Access to
resources, especially economic, can mit-
igate some of these restrictions, but no
woman is entirely safe from violence. As
a consequence women monitor their own
6
http://www.womankind.org.uk/violence-aga-
inst-women.html

24
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

behaviour and/or are often placed under
surveillance by others. This has extensive
consequences, limiting women’s partici-
pation and involvement in community and
public life, their productivity and achieve-
ments in education and employment and,
when they are victimised, etching their
family and personal lives with pain and
betrayal.
The human rights perspective also
serves to make clear that VAW is not a
private matter but one of public concern,
meaning governments can be held ac-
countable if they are seen to carry out or
condone acts of VAW, or if they fail to take
adequate steps to fulfil their human rights
obligations to address the issue effective-
ly, including prevention.
The 1995 Beijing Platform for Action
(BPFA), which was drafted and signed by
governments including the UK and most
European countries, states that VAW is
one of the major barriers for achieving
gender equality. It addresses VAW as one
of its 12 areas for concern, calling upon
governments to ‘take integrated meas-
ures to prevent and eliminate violence
against women’.
The BPFA set out specific steps that
state signatories should take with respect
to VAW, including the fundamental aim
to ‘eliminate’ it, with express steps to be
taken in the spheres of legislation, edu-
cation, health, judiciary, social services
and NGOs. Within this framework govern-
ments are expected to develop national
action plans that take a holistic and multi-
disciplinary approach.
Liz Kelly  

Current approaches
in the UK
Government approach
Whilst Scotland, Northern Ireland and
Wales do have policies and strategies, the
focus has overwhelmingly been on do-
mestic violence/abuse. That said, Glasgow
City Council has built a  VAW approach
within wider gender equality frame-
works, and the Scottish government is
due to publish a VAW strategy imminent-
ly. The focus on domestic violence has
grown over the last couple of years, with
a number of women MPs becoming more
powerful champions in parliament and
Ministers for Women repeatedly citing it
as a priority. On a smaller scale a noticea-
ble shift has taken place in relation to rape
and sexual assault and trafficking, espe-
cially in terms of legal reform, and some
support for service provision. As a conse-
quence three interministerial groups op-
erated in parallel – on domestic violence,
sexual offending and trafficking – along-
side entirely disconnected developments
with respect to forced marriage and FGM.
Whilst the increased attention and,
in the case of sexual crime, far-reaching
legal reform is welcome, developments
have been piecemeal and lack coordina-
tion. Despite an apparent commitment
to mainstreaming, specific references to
gender equality, let alone VAW, barely fea-
ture in ministerial policy priorities or Pub-
lic Service Agreements (PSAs) across gov-
ernment. The End Violence Against Wom-
en campaign7 has audited government re-
sponses across ministries for three years
(2006, 2007, 2008).
Whilst there are a  myriad of ways in
which VAW connects to current policy pri-
7
www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk
25 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Wh at a   wa s te : t h e ca s e f o r a n i nte grate d v i o l e n ce a gainst women strategy
 

orities, there are virtually no explicit rec- resulting in marginalisation of many

ognitions of this in either high-level policy women. Critically this policy has also
documents, or in the performance man- neglected the ways in which gen-
agement framework the Westminster gov- der divisions exist within communi-
ernment develops for ministries and local ties; and an emphasis on ‘good re-
governments. Moreover, there are mini- lations’ between faith communities
mal references to gender equality across runs the danger of ignoring how re-
all government policy. One is courtesy of ligions can be implicated in resisting
the UN Millennium Development Goals, gender equality.
which appear as aims for the Department Within government few policy ad-
for International Development. Most gov- visors appear to have sufficient under-
ernment departments do not see VAW as standing of the extensive ramifications of
their concern, referring to the responsi- violence to make connections with wider
bilities of the Home Office – thus locating policy issues, such as asylum, productiv-
the issue firmly within a crime framing. ity, social inclusion and programmes de-
Some examples of the missed oppor- signed to enable single parents to find
tunities in recent policy developments in- sustainable employment. The impacts of
clude the following: interventions, therefore, are not as deep
ƒƒ The Drugs and Alcohol Harm Reduc- and long lasting as they could be.
tion Strategies does not fully recog-
nise the extent to which alcohol is
The voluntary sector
a  factor in sexual offences, and the
fact that drugs and alcohol are used as The UK VAW sector – refuges, rape
coping strategies in the aftermath of crisis, helplines and advocacy projects,
victimisation. survivors’ groups – has a  strong repu-
ƒƒ The Department for Education and tation internationally and has been the
Skills has failed entirely to address the foundation of the moves to take VAW se-
connections of VAW to children’s un- riously. Whilst some groups have a strong
derachievement, the necessity of de- campaigning focus, most have, at least in
veloping curricula for professional recent years, concentrated on developing
training, and the potentials for pre- and maintaining innovative service provi-
vention through school and further sion, in an arena where women continue
education. to be poorly served. The absence of any
ƒƒ The Ministry of Defence failed to link policy regarding provision means servic-
concerns about the behaviours of es continue to remain deeply uneven –
troops in other countries with data not just geographically, but in terms of
that suggest domestic violence and covering all forms of violence – with the
child abuse are more common with- number of rape crisis groups in particu-
in military families, and to develop lar falling, rather than growing, in recent
a  prevention curriculum within basic years.8 International human rights stand-
training. ards, including the BPFA, place a respon-
ƒƒ The Department for Communities sibility on governments to ensure that
and Local Government has devel-
oped a  policy on community cohe-
8
The exception here is Scotland, where a  ring
fenced funding stream has increased the
sion which neglects the ways in which
number of rape crisis centres by four since
VAW breaks connections with others, 2003.

26
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

adequate support and protective servic-
es are available for all who need them.
Whilst funding has improved with re-
spect to domestic violence services (al-
though there is still much unmet need),
provision addressing rape and sexual vi-
olence, trafficking, FGM and other forms
of VAW, particularly for vulnerable groups
and Black and minority ethnic women, re-
mains chronically under-funded.
Beacons lighting the way
There are a number of examples from
current practice in the statutory and vol-
untary sectors that can act as signposts,
or beacons, illustrating the benefits of
making connections. Indeed, the Wom-
en’s National Commission (WNC) VAW
Working Group is a case in point. It is now
a  strong advocate for a  more integrated
approach and its participative member-
ship – across the nations and regions of
the UK and forms of VAW – demonstrates
that it is possible to work with a  wider
agenda in ways that everyone benefits.
Similarly, the European Women’s Lobby
has had a VAW project in Brussels for six
years. It, too, began with a  focus on do-
mestic violence but has since deepened
its understanding and perspective and is
Creating an integrated approach
now a powerful voice in EU debates about
trafficking and the sex industry.
The boxes below contain examples
from the national statutory, local author-
ity and service provision sectors, each
of which demonstrates the benefits of
a more integrated approach.
Part of the policy development includ-
ed looking in far more depth at the agen-
cies’ own data – and finding areas that
needed improvement. A number of goals
for improvement are set, including en-
hancing effective prosecution of cases.
Implementation of the policy includes on-
going engagement with stakeholders.
27
Liz Kelly  

Thurrock Violence Against Women Al-
liance demonstrated an innovative com-
bination at a  local level, and the com-
mitment of South Essex Rape and In-
cest Crisis Centre in the voluntary sec-
tor produced a local commitment not only
to address VAW, but also to using gen-
der mainstreaming methodology. How-
ever, since national government policy at
the time (2004) did not support this move
the alliance was short-lived. Nonetheless,
it illustrates yet to realise possibilities in
multi-agency partnerships.
Glasgow City Council, through its
gender equality work, has always taken
a  VAW approach, including being one of
the earliest and most sustained support-
ers of the Zero Tolerance awareness rais-
ing strategies. What we highlight here is
their innovative work around prostitution
and the sex industry, which prefigured
the recent government review on prosti-
tution policy.
Southall Black Sisters have played an
inspirational role in the UK voluntary sec-
tor for two decades, demonstrating that it
is possible to combine local service pro-
vision and acting strategically at regional
and national levels.
The basic contours of an integrated
approach must, in the short term, sup-
port and empower women and girls and
ensure sanctions for abusive men, whilst
over the longer term seeking to reduce
and ultimately end violence. All of these
tasks require counteracting the lega-
cies of permission, justification and vic-
tim blame. Achieving this, and widen-
ing the focus beyond domestic violence,
will require a strong steer from the cen-
tre. The UK, through its support for the
Beijing Platform of Action, has committed
itself to creating a  Plan of Action, which
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Wh at a   wa s te : t h e ca s e f o r a n i nte grate d v i o l e n ce a gainst women strategy
 

would be the clearest and simplest way ƒƒ the possibility of mainstreaming ne-
to move forward. There are various exam- glected and under-resourced issues,
ples from other countries , from which el- such as trafficking, exploitation in the
ements and lessons could be learnt. sex industry and FGM.
Australia, Austria and Germany have
aspirational documents which, whilst In terms of national government it
short on specific steps, make clear philo- would provide a series of benefits and op-
sophical statements linking VAW to wider portunities:
gender equality policies. ƒƒ to give a strong policy steer across the
ƒƒ Norway and Finland have had strate- range of forms of violence faced by
gic plans: the former is a  renewable women in the UK;
three-year plan focused on domestic ƒƒ to redress the current/historical focus
violence; the latter a broader five-year on domestic violence;
action plan with a linked research and ƒƒ to provide a clear philosophical frame-
documentation centre. work and a vision of a future in which
ƒƒ The USA has used its renewable Vi- gender violence no longer exists;
olence Against Women Act for ten ƒƒ to be in full, rather than technical,
years to develop and steer public poli- compliance with UN and EU commit-
cy through setting new targets for na- ments/policy;
tional roll-out and providing matched ƒƒ to set markers/standards for provision
funding for local areas or agencies and responses, including the possibili-
that pick up the challenges. ty of services on the basis of need;
Whatever approach is taken in the UK,
the basic aims could be:
Towards an integrated approach
ƒƒ to improve responses in the short
term within a  framework that seeks An integrated approach to VAW in all
transformations which will decrease its forms should begin from a  clear vi-
and ultimately end VAW; sion/overall statement: Ending Violence
ƒƒ to provide stepping stones and create Against Women – Creating Equality and
templates for implementation at local Social Justice; Delivering Human Rights.
and regional levels within the duty to This sets the long-term ambition in
promote gender equality. line with UN and EU policies, makes ex-
The kind of integrated strategy envis- plicit that prevention is a key element in
aged here would enable: the approach and underlines that deliver-
ƒƒ more coordinated and consistent gov- ing it requires gender equity. A  series of
ernment policy; critical shifts in perspective and response
ƒƒ better knowledge transfer across the need to be highlighted:
sectors; ƒƒ from domestic violence to VAW;
ƒƒ more effective use of limited financial ƒƒ from reactive to proactive responses;
resources; ƒƒ from making do to providing quality
ƒƒ the possibility of linked training, in- services;
cluding a core curriculum for all pro- ƒƒ from margin to mainstream;
fessionals; ƒƒ from responding to preventing.
ƒƒ a  coherent, integrated long-term ap- The term ‘integrated’ is central to the
proach to prevention; strategy and as a  minimum refers to the
following:

28
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

ƒƒ addressing all forms of VAW simulta-
neously, thus combining the currently
disparate interministerial initiatives;
ƒƒ highlighting connections between
forms of violence and abuse, not least
in terms of their underlying causes,
short- and long-term impacts;
ƒƒ mainstreaming VAW into all relevant
areas of government policy;
ƒƒ encouraging and enabling integration
in specific policy areas like prevention
and public awareness and in activities
such as interagency forums.
The VAW sector has provided a  re-
sponse to and critique of the then govern-
ment initiatives on VAW in the CEDAW
Thematic Shadow Report on Violence
Against Women.9 Many of the respec-
tive headline areas have already been ad-
dressed in this paper, but some offer addi-
tional elements from which to build an in-
tegrated approach:
ƒƒ locating VAW centrally within efforts
to create gender equality (as is the
case in many other European coun-
tries);
ƒƒ developing a  stronger link to human
rights principles, as they apply to vic-
tims, in the private as well as the pub-
lic sphere;
ƒƒ addressing attrition in the criminal
justice system in a coherent and coor-
dinated way;
ƒƒ devising strategy, in partnership with
other key actors, to secure and aid de-
velopment in the specialist NGO sec-
tor;
ƒƒ developing strategic interventions and
priorities, mainstreaming what we al-
ready know to be good practice and
ensuring that wherever women live,
and whatever additional needs they
may have, they have access to quality
and effective services;
9
Sen and Kelly 2008
29
Liz Kelly  

ƒƒ enhancing knowledge through con-
certed efforts and dedication of re-
sources to data collection. The cur-
rent knowledge base is insufficient to
enable assessment of the success or
otherwise of government policies, not
to mention that effective intervention
requires more sophisticated analysis
of the contexts in which VAW occurs,
and the impact that it has on wom-
en, their families and communities.
There is a critical need to understand
better the needs of vulnerable groups
of women, including disabled women,
older women and women from diverse
ethnic and cultural backgrounds. It is
also necessary to look at patterns of
offending, how violence is located in
contemporary gender relations and
the links between perpetration of dif-
ferent forms of abuse;
ƒƒ placing VAW within foreign and devel-
opment as well as domestic policies.
This proposal is a  significant depar-
ture from previous approaches. In partic-
ular, it recognises that:
ƒƒ achieving women’s equality requires
addressing violence;
ƒƒ all forms of VAW are connected, and
have the same underlying causes;
ƒƒ these are not only individual experi-
ences of victimisation, they also have
a gendered pattern;
ƒƒ victims need support, advocacy and
redress; perpetrators must be held to
account;
ƒƒ national and local governments can
and should take a leading role in seek-
ing to prevent (in the word of the UN
‘eliminate’) violence against women
and children.
VAW is currently everywhere and no-
where in terms of public policy. An addi-
tional gain from an explicit national strat-
egy would be a  connected sector across
voluntary and statutory service providers,
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Wh at a   wa s te : t h e ca s e f o r a n i nte grate d v i o l e n ce a gainst women strategy
 

which could be recognised through a Na- • Herman, Judith Lewis: Trauma and Recovery, New
York 1992.
tional Service Agreement. Whether in this
• HMCPSI: Joint Inspection into the Investigation and
format, or another, the strategy should Prosecution of Cases Involving Allegations of Rape.
also include: London 2002.
• Home Office: David Blunkett Welcomes Law to End
ƒƒ an implementation plan with times-
Female Genital Mutilation, Press Release 098/2004,
cales, roles and allocated resources; 3 March 2004. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk
ƒƒ mechanisms for ensuring trickle-down • Kelly, Liz/ Linda Regan: Stopping Traffic: Exploring
the extent of, and responses to, trafficking in wom-
of proven good practice into local serv-
en for sexual exploitation in the UK. Police Research
ice provision; Series Paper 125. London 2000. http://www.homeof-
ƒƒ a framework for monitoring change; fice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fprs125.pdf
• Mirrlees-Black, Catriona: Domestic Violence: Find-
ƒƒ an oversight body, which is not part
ings from a New British Crime Survey Self-comple-
of government, which would review tion Questionnaire. Home Office Research Study
progress, learn from international ex- 191. London: Home Office 1999. http://www.home-
office.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors191.pdf
amples, conduct the regular reviews of
• Mirrlees-Black, Catriona/ Jonathan Allen: Concern
the legislative framework required by About Crime: Findings from the 1998 British Crime
the BPFA and make recommendations. Survey. Home Office Findings 83. London 1998.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/r83.pdf
• Mullender, Audrey/ Gill Hague/ Umme Imam/ Liz
Kelly/ Ellen Malos/ Linda Regan: Children’s Perspec-
References
tives on Domestic Violence. London 2001.
• Burton, Sheila/Jenny Kitzinger: Young People’s Atti- • Myhill, Andy/ Jonathan Allen: Rape and Sexual As-
tudes Towards Violence, Sex and Relationships. Ed- sault of Women: The Extent and Nature of the Prob-
inburgh 1998. www.zerotolerance.org.uk lem – Findings from the British Crime Survey. Home
• Cowan, Rosie: Death threat couple still running – 11 Office Research Study 237. London 2002. http://
years on, Guardian 28 June 2004. www.rapecrisis.org.uk/HOFindings159.pdf
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/jun/28/ukcrime. • Regan, Linda/ Liz Kelly: Teenage Tolerance: The Hid-
rosiecowan den Lives of Young Irish People. Dublin 2001.
• Dickson, Sandra: Sex in the City: Mapping Commer- • Samad, Yunas/John Eade: Community Perceptions
cial Sex Across London, London 2004. of Forced Marriage. Community Liaison Unit, Lon-
• http://www.eaves4women.co.uk/POPPY_Project/Docu- don 2002.
ments/Recent_Reports/Sex%20in%20the%20City.pdf • http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf1/fco_
• EOC cited in Bimrose, Jenny/ Anne Green/Michael forcedmarriagereport121102
Orton/ Sally-Anne Barnes/ Fiona Scheibl/ Sheila Gal- • Sen, Purna/ Liz Kelly: Violence Against Women in
loway/ Beate Baldauf: Improving the Position of the UK: Thematic Shadow Report. London 2008.
Women in the Labour Market: Coventry and War- • http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data/
wickshire. Warwick 2000. files/evaws_shadow_report_to_cedaw_2008.pdf
• http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/publica- • Simmons, Jon et al.: Crime in England and Wales
tions/2008/participation.pdf 2001/2002, London: Home Office 2002.
• European Women’s Lobby: Towards a Common Euro- • Walby, Sylvia/ Jonathan Allen: Domestic Violence,
pean Framework to Monitor Progress in Combating Sexual Assault and Stalking: Findings from the Brit-
Violence Against Women. Brussels 2002. ish Crime Survey. Home Office Research Study 276.
• http://www.prostitucio.hu/colette.detroy.2004.05.28. London 2004. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/
htm pdfs04/hors276.pdf
• Heise, L./ K. Moore/N. Toubia: Sexual Coercion and
Reproductive Health: A Focus on Research. New
York 1995.

30
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Rosa Logar
According to studies on the extent of
male violence against women, one out of
four to five women have experienced phys-
ical violence at least once during adult life,
and one out of ten women have suffered
sexual violence. Between 12% and 15%
of all women over 16 has experienced vi-
olence committed by husbands or part-
ners.1 The problem of domestic violence
is definitely related to gender: women and
girls are disproportionately often affected
by violence committed by male members
of the family. According to the definition
by the United Nations, violence against
women is gender-based violence as it ‘is
directed against a  woman because she is
a  woman or violence that affects women
1
IFF/ infas
31
National and
international
measures
to prevent
domestic
violence
against women
and children
This article has been reprinted from the publication “Ten Years of
Austrian Anti-violence Legislation”, containing documentation
from the conference: “Stop Domestic Violence Against Women”,
Vienna 2008.
disproportionately’.2 Regarding the caus-
es of violence against women, the Unit-
ed Nations states that it is ‘a  manifesta-
tion of the historically unequal power re-
lations between men and women, which
have led to domination over and discrim-
ination against women by men and to the
prevention of women’s full advancement’.3
Children always suffer when violence
is directed against their mothers: either
directly, if they are abused as well, or in-
directly, by witnessing violence and see-
ing the effects that it has on their moth-
ers.4 Violence brings about human suffer-
ing, and also enormous costs, as several
studies have shown.5
2
United Nations 1992
3
United Nations 1996, p. 75
4
Erikson et al.; Kavemann/ Kreyssig
5
Walby
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Nat i o n a l a n d i nte rn at i o n a l m e a s u re s to p re ve nt d o m estic violence against women and children
 
The right to a safe place:
the history of the women’s
shelters movement
In Western Europe, the issue of vio-
lence against women was made public by
the new women’s movement in the 1970s.
The first response to this problem was to
find safe places for women and their chil-
dren so that they could escape from the
violence of their husbands and fathers.
The first women’s shelter was opened
in London in 1972,6 and others followed
soon. In 1976, Berlin established its first
women’s shelter, and Vienna in 1978. In
the Warsaw Pact states, the problem of vi-
olence against women officially did not
exist,7,8 and only after the collapse of com-
munism women’s organizations emerged
in the individual states. The first East Eu-
ropean shelter was opened in Zagreb in
1992.9 Afterwards, numerous independ-
ent women’s initiatives against violence
were founded in Central and South-East-
ern Europe. However, in many of these
former communist countries, no adequate
public funding has been made available
to women’s agencies: they depend on for-
eign foundations and project funds.10
Establishing women’s shelters has
never been an easy task, because it was
often denied that the problem of violence
against women actually existed. Feminists
6
Elman
7
Schröttle
8
As regards Poland, this information is not quite
correct. Before 1989, the so called communist
regime and the state licensed trade unions were
more committed to combating violence against
women than today’s “democratic” state and its
agencies. Although it was probably the mani-
festation of its oppressive nature rather than
of genuine concern for women’s rights, but at
that time, the state did not condone violence
against women; in most cases the perpetrators
were prosecuted and punished more effectively
and severely than today. (Editor’s note)
9
Tölle
10
Logar 2008
32
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
again and again faced the allegation that
they made up or exaggerated this problem.
Still, reality spoke for itself: each women’s
shelter that was opened was overcrowded
within short time, which definitely pointed
to the need for additional shelters. Thanks
to the initiative of many committed wom-
en it has been possible in Europe to build
a network of women’s agencies in order to
provide adequate support to women who
have suffered violence. At present, Europe
has approximately 1 500 women’s shel-
ters, but still, this support network has of-
ten shown to be insufficient. In many re-
gions, no shelters exist.11 Even in the Unit-
ed Kingdom, with a high density of wom-
en’s services compared to other countries,
there are great gaps in regional supply
structures,12 and much remains to be done.
In the 1990s, violence against wom-
en, not least because of the activities of the
women’s movement, became an issue also
for the international community. One effect
of the Women’s Rights Are Human Rights
campaign13 launched by international wom-
en’s organizations was that the issue of vi-
olence against women was the top of the
agenda at the United Nations Conference
on Human Rights that took place in Vien-
na in 1993. At the conference, it was stated
that violence against women is a violation
of human rights and that it is the States’ re-
sponsibility to protect those affected14 and
to act when women suffer violence in pri-
vate relationships. ‘Under general interna-
tional law and specific human rights cov-
enants, States may also be responsible for
private acts if they fail to act with due dil-
igence to prevent violations of rights or to
investigate and punish acts of violence, and
for providing compensation.’15
11
Council of Europe 2007
12
Coy at al.
13
Bunch/ Reilly
14
United Nations 1993
15
United Nations 1992, Art. 9

The right to a safe home: Austria’s
first Protection Against Violence Act
The next stage, i.e., after support serv-
ices for women had been established, was
characterised by discussions with state in-
stitutions and efforts to achieve adequate
legal measures to protect women and chil-
dren against violence.16
In Austria, similarly to other countries,
women’s agencies were not satisfied at all
with the way in which the police used to re-
spond to women’s experience of violence.
Before the police intervened, a woman had
to enter the police station with her head
under her arm, so to speak. In most cases,
violence against women was regarded as
a  private matter, and women who turned
to the police were sent back home immedi-
ately. After insistent criticism of such non-
response by the police, in the late 1980s
the police asked representatives of the lo-
cal women’s shelters to carry out train-
ing programmes for police officers. The
women accepted the challenge and en-
tered this men’s stronghold (at that time,
no women worked in the regular police
force of Austria).17 The women’s organisa-
tions showed stamina also here: today the
theme of responding to violence against
women and children has become an inte-
gral part of police training in Austria.
In the early 1990s, the women’s shel-
ters increasingly often voiced criticism of
the situation that women and children had
to flee to a shelter in order to escape from
violence, while violent men could sim-
ply stay in the family home. This was re-
garded as unjust and gave rise to an in-
ternational research of models that pro-
tected those suffering violence while mak-
ing it possible for them to stay in their own
homes. Eventually the experts of Austria’s
16
Humphreys/ Carter et al.
17
Egger at al.
33
R osa Logar  

women’s shelters movement identified the
DAIP project as one of the first good prac-
tice models of coordinated multi-institu-
tional cooperation.18 The 1993 United Na-
tions Human Rights Conference of Vien-
na mentioned above also gave important
impulses for the advancement of anti-vi-
olence activities. Initiated by then Wom-
en’s Minister Johanna Dohnal and in close
cooperation with Caspar Einem, then Min-
ister of the Interior, an interministerial
working group was convoked, composed
of staff of women’s shelters, police offic-
ers, judges and lawyers. The result of this
collaboration was the Federal Act on Pro-
tection Against Domestic Violence, which
entered into force in May 1997.
The Act consists of three elements
that are linked to each other:
ƒƒ eviction order by the police: the perpe-
trator has to leave the flat for 10 days;
ƒƒ interim injunction under civil law,
which provides protection for a  long-
er period;
ƒƒ support of victims by domestic abuse
intervention centres.
The latter measure is most essential,
because victims need active assistance to
enforce their rights vis-à-vis the perpe-
trator. The Minister of the Interior active-
ly supported the establishment of inter-
vention centres, by stating that it was an
essential task of the police to protect vic-
tims but that in the cases of domestic vio-
lence the police alone was unable to per-
form this task and assistance by victims’
protection agencies was needed. Conse-
quently, the Ministry of the Interior took
over half of the cost of establishing and
running intervention centres. The other
half was covered by the Federal Minister
of Women. Eventually, it was possible to
open intervention centres in all nine prov-
inces of Austria, which pursue a proactive
18
Ibidem
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Nat i o n a l a n d i nte rn at i o n a l m e a s u re s to p re ve nt d o m estic violence against women and children
 
approach: the police communicates to the
intervention centre in charge the reports
on interventions in cases of domestic vio-
lence, and the centre actively contacts the
victim and offers assistance.19
The Act in practice
The Federal Act on Protection Against
Violence does not exist on paper only. It
has already been amended twice, and
since its entry into force the number of
eviction orders issued by the police has
steadily risen: from 2 673 in 1998 to 6
347 in 2007. This most probably is not the
result of an increase in violence but indi-
cates a change in attitude among the au-
thorities concerned, in particular the po-
lice: violence against women and children
is no longer regarded as a  private mat-
ter, but the State intervenes and those af-
fected have access to concrete protection
measures. According to police statistics,
more than 90% of victims of domestic vi-
olence are women, and more than 90% of
perpetrators are male family members, es-
pecially husbands and live-in partners. So
far, two studies evaluating the Protection
Against Violence Act have been drawn up.
Both conclude that the intervention cen-
tres are of great significance for the em-
powerment of women suffering violence.20
However, the continued rise in eviction
orders resulted in capacity problems in
the agencies providing assistance to vic-
tims of violence. In 2006, it was not pos-
sible in seven (out of 23) districts of Vien-
na to deliver services to all victims. After
intensive efforts by then Women’s Minis-
ter Doris Bures and then Interior Minis-
ter Günther Platter, 2007 saw an increase
by 60% of the budgets of the intervention
centres. Since then, it has again been pos-
19
18 Logar 2005
20
Dearing/ Haller; Haller et al.
34
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
sible to support all victims of domestic vi-
olence after eviction orders have been is-
sued. The Women’s Minister also achieved
a  budget increase by more than 30% for
women’s agencies active in the field of vi-
olence. This has been another important
step to support women suffering domes-
tic violence, because not all of them can,
or wish to, turn to the police or court au-
thorities. Therefore we need both options:
the right to stay in one’s own flat and the
right to safe accommodation in a women’s
shelter. The number of women and chil-
dren fleeing to shelters has not gone down
after the Protection Against Violence Act
entered into force. Women’s shelters,
women’s counselling centres, phone hot-
lines and counselling services for im-
migrants continue to be of vital impor-
tance in the prevention of violence against
women and children. It was not possible
in 1997 to take on board also the criminal
justice system, which for a long time con-
stituted the missing link in Austria in the
chain of measures of protection against vi-
olence (see article “10 Years of Experience
with Austrian Anti-violence Legislation:
Present Situation and perspectives”).
This gap has had massive effects be-
cause eviction orders by the police and in-
terim injunctions under civil law are inad-
equate instruments to prevent dangerous
perpetrators from committing further vio-
lence. Rather, this requires measures un-
der criminal law, especially the arrest of of-
fenders. Austria would have the statutory
prerequisites for this measure, but there
are problems regarding practical applica-
tion. Because of the lack of problem aware-
ness and know-how on the part of prose-
cuting authorities, even repeated threats
and acts of violence were not taken seri-
ously but dismissed as ‘typical of certain
social environments’. In two cases, the
consequence of this attitude was that hus-
bands were able to carry out their threats

and kill their wives. In 2004, the Associa-
tion for Women’s Access to Justice and the
Domestic Abuse Intervention Centre Vien-
na, on behalf of the surviving children of
the two women, submitted a complaint to
the UN Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),21
stating that Austria had not met its obliga-
tion to protect the two women with due dil-
igence. In 2007, the two Communications
by the CEDAW Committee were published,
in which the Committee agreed with the
complaining parties.22 While it was recog-
nised that Austria had introduced statu-
tory measures to address violence against
women, it was also pointed out that it was
not enough to have good laws but that also
their practical realisation has to be ensured
by the State party. The Committee also
stated ‘that the perpetrator’s rights cannot
supersede women’s human rights to life
and to physical and mental integrity’.23
New statutory regulations in Austria
However, in recent years Austria has
seen significant improvements regard-
ing victims’ protection, also in the field of
criminal law. What deserves special men-
tion here is the Anti-stalking Act that en-
tered into force in 2006, and the amended
Code of Criminal Procedure, under which
victims, since 2006, have been granted the
right to psychosocial and legal court assist-
21
CEDAW is the abbreviation of Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimina-
tion Against Women. Austria ratified this UN
Convention in 1982. The CEDAW Committee is
a body composed of 23 experts watching over
progress made regarding implementation of
the Convention.
22
CEDAW 2007a and 2007b; the two CEDAW
Communications 5/2005 and 6/2006 are available
for download on the website of the UN Division
for the Advancement of Women, in the six official
UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish): www.un.org/ womenwatch/
daw/cedaw/protocol/dec-views.htm
23
CEDAW 2007b, Para 12.1.5
R osa Logar  

ance. The discussions regarding the two
CEDAW complaints have also shown posi-
tive effects: under the 2006 amendment to
the Criminal Code, the consent of victims
is no longer required in order to initiate
criminal prosecution in cases of dangerous
threats in family contexts. This has been
an important step towards the State’s tak-
ing over responsibility and reducing the
stress for victims. Another positive devel-
opment is that in 2008 specialised struc-
tures in public prosecutor’s offices were
introduced, thus a model that has already
proven its worth in other countries now
also exists in Austria. Eventually, in Sep-
tember 2008, a Government Bill on the re-
form and expansion of statutory measures
of protection against violence was adopted
by the Council of Ministers and submitted
to Parliament for debate. This Bill includes
essential improvements such as:
ƒƒ a new type of criminal offence with im-
position of more severe punishment
in cases of repeated violence against
a victim;
ƒƒ the right to apply for protection meas-
ures under civil law is granted to any
person affected by violence, independent
of their family relationship to the abuser;
ƒƒ extension of interim injunctions to six
months and one year, respectively;
ƒƒ victims are granted the right to court
assistance, also in civil law proceedings.
These plans show that attempts are
made in Austria to repair the existing
shortcomings in the field of protection
against violence. It is to be hoped that the
Bill will soon be adopted by Parliament.
International standards for
comprehensive, coordinated
responses to violence against
women and their children
The individual states are obligated by
international agreements to act with due
35 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Nat i o n a l a n d i nte rn at i o n a l m e a s u re s to p re ve nt d o m estic violence against women and children
 
diligence to prevent, and protect women
from violence. This obligation means that
each woman has the right to protection
and support. Under the 1989 UN Conven-
tion on the Rights of the Child, every child
is granted the right to protection from all
forms of physical or mental violence as
well as neglect and all forms of abuse and
exploitation. According to this definition,
witnessing violence against their mothers
is also violence against the children. More
than 30 years of experience have shown
that isolated measures are not enough to
prevent violence against women and their
children. At institutional level, all agen-
cies and authorities involved in this prob-
lem have to act in a  determined and co-
ordinated way. It is necessary to create
chains of intervention by multi-agency
cooperation bodies. The cases mentioned
above demonstrate how dangerous gaps
in the intervention chain are.
At statutory level, comprehensive and
well-coordinated measures have to be
taken to prevent violence against women
and their children24 so that victims, in ad-
dition to protection measures under crim-
inal law and civil law, are also granted so-
cial and economic rights, such as:
ƒƒ the right to safe accommodation in
a women’s shelter;
ƒƒ the right to comprehensive psychoso-
cial assistance by specialised women’s
services working to prevent violence
against women;
ƒƒ the right to a flat of their own;
ƒƒ the right of residence independent of
the husband;
ƒƒ the right of children not to be obliged
to have contact with violent fathers;
and other necessary measures.
Legal protection measures should be
granted at several levels, in the form of:
24
Council of Europe 2008; United Nations 2008
36
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
ƒƒ eviction orders by the police in cases
of acute danger;
ƒƒ protection measures under civil law
for which victims may apply;
ƒƒ measures under criminal law against
perpetrators, initiated and imposed by
the State.
In all measures, empowerment and
support of victims should play a focal role,
as is the case regarding support servic-
es for victims by the intervention centres.
Good laws alone are not enough: they
have to be implemented and applied by
State actors in each individual case. At the
political level, comprehensive long-term
measures in the form of plans of action to
combat violence against women and their
children are required in order to eliminate
all forms of violence against women. How-
ever, for plans of action to be more than
printed paper, consequent implementation
and adequate budgets are needed. Swe-
den’s new plan of action to combat violence
against women, with a  budget of 80 mil-
lion euros, is a good practice model in this
context.25 States have to ensure that all po-
litical and legal measures regarding vio-
lence against women ‘are coordinated na-
tionwide and focused on the needs of the
victims and that relevant state institutions
as well as nongovernmental organisations
(NGOs) be associated with the elaboration
and the implementation of the necessary
measures.’26 The Council of Europe Cam-
paign to Combat Violence against Wom-
en, which was run from November 2006
to June 2008, has shown, among other re-
sults, that significant progress has been
made in the 47 Member States of the Coun-
cil of Europe in the field of prevention of vio-
lence against women but that there contin-
ue to be great gaps in many areas which ur-
gently need be closed. Therefore the Coun-
25
Council of Europe 2008
26
Council of Europe 2002, Para I.3

cil of Europe Task Force to Combat Violence
against Women, including Domestic Vio-
lence stresses the importance of introduc-
ing a convention to combat violence against
women that is oriented towards a gender-
based and human rights approach.27
References
• Bunch, Charlotte/ Niamh Reilly: Demanding Account-
ability. The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal
for Women’s Human Rights. New York 1994.
• CEDAW – United Nations Committee on the Elimina-
tion of Discrimination against Women: Decision Sahide
Goekce (deceased) v. Austria, No. 5/2005, CEDAW/
C/39/D/2005, 2007a.
• CEDAW – United Nations Committee on the Elimina-
tion of Discrimination against Women: Decision Fatma
Yıldırım (deceased) v. Austria, No. 6/2005, CEDAW/
C/39/D/6/2005, 2007b.
• Council of Europe: Recommendation (2002)5 of the
Committee of Ministers to member States on the
protection of women against violence adopted on 30
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Document No VAW-FP(2008)1
• Coy, Maddy/ Liz Kelly/ Jo Foord et al.: Map of Gaps: The
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• Dearing, Albert/ Birgitt Haller (eds.): Das österreich-
ische Gewaltschutzgesetz. Vienna 2000.
• Elman, Amy R.: Refuge in Reconfigured States. Shel-
ter Movements in the United States, Britain and
Sweden. In: Lee Ann Banaszak/ Karen Beckwith/ Di-
eter Rucht (eds.): Women’s Movements Facing the
Reconfigured State. Cambridge 2003, pp. 94–113.
• Egger, Renate et al.: Gewalt gegen Frauen in der Fam-
ilie, Vienna 1995.
• Eriksson, Maria/ Marianne Hester/ Suvi Keskinen/ Keith
Pringle: Tackling Men’s Violence in Families.Nordic
issues and dilemmas. Bristol 2005.
27
Council of Europe 2008
R osa Logar  

• Haller, Birgitt/ Katrin Auer/ Barbara Liegl: Folgestudie
zur Evaluierung des Bundesgesetzes zum Schutz vor
Gewalt in der Familie, Studie im Auftrag des Innen-
ministeriums, erstellt vom Institut für Konfliktforsc-
hung. Vienna 2002.
• Humphreys, C./ R. Carter et al.: The justice sys-
tem as an arena for the protection of human rights
for women and children experiencing violence and
abuse. European Research Project CAHRV, Universi-
ty of Osnabrück 2006.
• IFF (Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Frauen- und Ge-
schlechterforschung an der Universität Bielefeld)/infas
(Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaften GmbH,
Bonn): Lebenssituation, Sicherheit und Gesundheit
von Frauen in Deutschland. Eine repräsentative Un-
tersuchung zu Gewalt gegen Frauen in Deutschland.
Edited by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs,
Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Berlin 2004.
• Kavemann, Barbara/ Ulrike Kreyssig (eds.): Handbuch
Kinder und häusliche Gewalt. Berlin 2005.
• Logar, Rosa: The Austrian model of intervention in
cases of domestic violence. Paper presented at the
UN Expert Group Meeting: Violence against women:
Good practice in combating and eliminating violence
against women 17–20 May 2005, Vienna 2005.
• Logar, Rosa: The European Women’s Shelter Move-
ment and its contribution to change: New challenges
and future perspectives. Paper presented at the 1st
World Conference on Women’s Shelters, 8–11 Sep-
tember 2008, Edmonton/ Canada 2008.
• Schröttle, Monika: Politik und Gewalt im Geschlech-
terverhältnis. Eine empirische Untersuchung über
Ausmaß, Ursachen und Hintergründe von Gewalt
gegen Frauen in ostdeutschen Paarbeziehungen
vor und nach der deutsch-deutschen Vereinigung.
Bielefeld 1999.
• Tölle, Neva: Gesellschaft im Umbruch: Frauen-
hausarbeit in Kroatien. In: Verein Autonome öster-
reichische Frauenhäuser (ed.): 30 Jahre Frauenhaus-
bewegung in Europa. Vienna 2004, pp. 65–70.
• United Nations: General Recommendation No. 19 on
Violence against Women, Committee on the Elimi-
nation of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
11th session, 1992, New York 1992.
• United Nations: Declaration on the elimination of vi-
olence against women, New York December 1993.
• United Nations: The Beijing Declaration and the Plat-
form for Action, Fourth World Conference on Women
Beijing, China 4–15 September 1995, New York 1996.
• United Nations: Good practices in legislation on vio-
lence against women.
• Report of the expert group meeting organized by
United Nations Division for the Advancement of
Women und the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime at the United Nations Office at Vienna, Aus-
tria, 26 to 28 May 2008.
• http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/egm/vaw_leg-
islation_2008/vaw_legislation_200 8.htm 25 novem-
ber 2008, 2008.
• Walby, Sylvia: The cost of Domestic Violence. Lon-
don 2004.
37 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 H ERSTORY

The story My mother was barely 16 years old when I was born. Later, she
got married and gave birth to more children. There are now
of Magda 6 of us. From an early age, I had to assist her in running the
household and taking care of the younger children. My moth-
er worked hard to support us. My stepfather was a drunk. I had
poor results at school and a  lot of absences. I  had too many
other responsibilities to be able to concentrate on my studies
and when I was in sixth grade, a school counselor decided to
place me in an orphanage. I was sent to the children’s home in
Upper Pilawa, where I finished primary school.
After I returned home, I wanted to continue my education,
but to do so, I would have to remain financially dependent on
my mother, who was barely earning enough to support us all.
A case worker was assigned to our family.
I went to work and began taking night classes to finish high
school, but soon dropped out. After some time, I met a boy at work
and fell in love. I rented an apartment and moved out of home.
I was 23 years old, and like every young woman, I dreamt of love,
of having the closeness of a dear man and starting a loving and
happy family. When I  became pregnant, my boyfriend started
to ignore me. I then decided to raise the baby by myself. When
I met Mirosław, I was 5 months pregnant. It didn’t bother him,
that I was expecting a child. I moved into his apartment in Stru-
ga. From the very beginning, he didn’t understand me – he want-
ed to have sex, but I was afraid for the baby. Still, at that time
I thought that his behavior proved that he loved me very much.
When I went into labour, he called an ambulance that took
me to the hospital. A few hours later, I gave birth to Karolinka.
Although she was born a month before my due date, she was
a healthy little girl. The birth was difficult, and I still had sev-
eral stitches when I came home from the hospital. That’s when
hell started. Mirosław kept forcing sex on me, but I was in too
much pain and afraid of pregnancy. I had no desire for phys-
ical intimacy. I  was enjoying my baby girl, and soon he be-
came very jealous of my love for her.
When he suggested that we officially register Karolina as his
daughter, I agreed. I was still so full of faith in people, and didn’t
expect him to become so cruel .He became increasingly posses-
sive and aggressive He wouldn’t allow me to have my stitches
taken out by my gynecologist – he removed them himself. I felt
humiliated. Although I had some sexual experience, my knowl-
edge on the subject was limited. I had never talked about sex
with my mother and had received no education on that subject
in school. Everything I knew was from books. I was never self-
confident and I was ashamed of my body. I was too shy to un-
dress in front of him, especially if the light was on. Now I know
that my shyness excited him even more. He couldn’t refrain

38
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 H ERSTORY

from acting instinctively and ignored my feelings. During this time he lost
his job at a construction site and started working as a woodcutter. He would
return from work drunk, almost every day and wouldn’t accept my refusal to
have sex with him. When I didn’t agree to intercourse-he raped me. It soon
became an everyday occurrence. When he came back from work, no matter
what I was doing – whether I was making dinner or taking care of my daugh-
ter – he would rip off my clothes and rape me in front of my child. Scream-
ing, crying or pleading with him didn’t help. Karolina would start to cry. She
knew something bad was happening. After he had finished, he usually went
out with his friends for a drink. Often, when he returned, he raped me again.
I was trapped. I had no where to go. Several times I tried to run away to my
mother, but he would always find me there. Many times I tried to talk to him
about the risk of pregnancy, but he would ignore it. He considered it my prob-
lem and wouldn’t use condoms even though we had them in the house. In
April 1999, I realized that I was pregnant again. He was furious. I was forbid-
den to tell anyone or to go to a doctor. He told our friends and family that I had
a tumor in my stomach. In June, during a visit with my mother, my family in-
sisted on having me taken to a hospital for medical tests. It made him angry-
he wanted to hide the pregnancy. In April he borrowed money from a friend,
explaining that we had financial difficulties because I was expecting anoth-
er baby. When he paid back his friend in June, he told him that I had miscar-
ried – even though I was still pregnant. I stared to give birth in the afternoon
of the 12th of August 1999. I was alone, on the floor, screaming in pain. He
didn’t call an ambulance, he didn’t ask anyone to take me to the hospital. He
sat in the next room with my 16-month old daughter and watched television.
He claimed he didn’t hear me. One of our neighbors testified that he heard
me screaming for 20 minutes, but no one wanted to intervene, because every-
one was afraid of him. I gave birth to a son and while I was still holding him
in my arms, he entered the room, cut the umbilical cord, took my child and
left. I begged him to tell me where he took him, but he wouldn’t. He threat-
ened that if I  exposed him, he would kill Karolina. However someone saw
him digging a hole in the garden. In September, an anonymous phone call
led the police to intervene. We were both detained: he went to a police station
where his uncle works and I was sent to another. We both passed psycholog-
ical test in Cracow. He was released, and I was arrested. He hired two law-
yers, which cost him 6000 zl. I was curious to know where he got such a sum
of money, as we often didn’t have enough to survive. I was assigned a public
defender, who never once talked to me, either personally or over the phone.
I found out where my baby was buried when the police found his body in the
garden. It was quite difficult for them to unearth his body, and when they lat-
er testified in court, they said that it wouldn’t have been possible for a wom-
an, who had just given birth to dig a hole and bury him. However, the courts
medical examiner said that women after giving birth can react very differ-
ently-some are exhausted, others can move mountains. During the investiga-
tion and the trial he insisted that he did not know about my pregnancy and
he had only learned about it from the police. The court believed him. A grown
man, whose intellect was assessed “within normal limits,” did not know that

39
 H ERSTORY

I could be pregnant after what used to do to me? After all, we still slept to-
gether, because he couldn’t control his sexual drive. He must have felt the
baby moving, and afterwards- he must have heard him cry. Even if my tumor
had actually burst, which is also what he told my family, shouldn’t a respon-
sible man call a doctor? Maybe he was waiting for me to bleed to death? He
performed his role so well that the court gave credence to his testimonies. Al-
though the court agreed that my version of events was consistent with the ver-
sion given by witnesses, still it was a version that the court found hard to be-
lieve. The court argued that my partner gave me a sense of security and sta-
bility in life. I don’t know on what basis, because I was never asked how I felt
in this relationship. During both the psychological evaluation and the trial,
I repeatedly described how I was treated, how unhappy I was and how I tried
to escape in order to change my situation. The court misinterpreted my testi-
mony and claimed that my trying to run away from my partner was proof that
I have “a tendency to change partners.”
The court also claimed that my financial situation was so good that I nev-
er had to use welfare aid. Is 700 zloty to support a family of three including
an alcoholic a good financial situation, or was this opinion the result of the
courts’ arrogance and lack of imagination? On what basis did the court claim
that I had no reason to fear this man? I was the one who suffered through vi-
olence and rape, and I am the only person who can say what that felt like. On
what basis did the court consider that the pathological nature of our relation-
ship was my fault? Does this mean that, according to the courts ruling, I was
to accept without complaint the brutal way I was treated by my partner? I am
the only person who can judge, whether or not I was mistreated.
The court sentenced me to 10 years in prison for the murder of my child, even
though it was never proven. The reasoning of the judgment was “the need for le-
gal awareness of society.” Society must be made aware that a woman is an ob-
ject that men can choose what to do with, for their own pleasures and benefit.
The court, unable to prove that my partner murdered my son, virtually ac-
quitted him (two years probation!), arguing that he demonstrated “an attitude of
accepting universal moral laws.”(?). For the court, discrimination against wom-
en, the humiliation and violence, including rape must be written in moral laws.
It is not true that he has a good reputation – people are afraid of him. The
only way that he has a clean criminal record is because he has contacts with-
in the police. He works from time to time. It’s true that he owns an apartment.
Also, it’s true that he has already found another woman, who he will probably
treat exactly like me – he will rape her in front of my child.
The court suspended my parental rights. Any effort that I made to change
my daughters living situation has been refused by the Family Court. There
are people, who would like to become foster family for my daughter, during
the time I  have to spend in prison. Why did the court place my child with
a man who is a sexual deviant and has a known history of alcoholism? The
Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. The prosecutor stated that “I chose to
behave in a way that is not compatible with the essence of motherhood”. Men
always know best what a woman should think, feel, how to behave, how to
look, and what is the essence of motherhood.

40
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Monika Ksieniewicz
From 2006 to 2008, the campaign “Stop
Domestic Violence against Women” was car-
ried out in 47 countries of the Council of Eu-
rope. A suggestive poster with the wrinkled
face of a woman read, “It starts with screams
and must never end in silence.”
During the campaign, seven conferenc-
es and regional meetings were convened.
For the first time, the COE campaign was
conducted at all levels of decision-making:
at the level of Member States’ national par-
liaments, governments and local govern-
ments. All events were coordinated by the
specially created Task Force.
COE Secretary General Terry Davis has
repeatedly stressed that violence against
women is a  violation of fundamental hu-
man rights and reminded that two main ob-
jectives of the campaign were as follows: to
raise awareness of the problem of violence
against women and to encourage coun-
tries to take concrete steps in order to pre-
vent and combat violence more effectively.
Many countries, particularly the members
of the European Union, have already taken
adequate steps. They still differ, however,
as to the importance of this problem in the
eyes of policy makers and consequently, as
regards the severity of the measures taken.
41
Council of
Europe on
violence
against women
– genesis of the
Convention
The most progressive legislation in the field
of prevention of violence against women has
been adopted and implemented in Spain.
Current Swedish Presidency of the EU
Council (2nd half of 2009) organized a  con-
ference on “Men’s violence against women”.
In Poland, the draft of the new law on com-
bating domestic violence is being discussed
in the lower chamber of parliament.
In the course of countless discussions,
member states presented their policies, in-
cluding the steps taken within the frame-
work of national action plans, aimed at pre-
venting violence against women and pun-
ishing the perpetrators. The states have es-
tablished or supported the establishment of
assistance centres and helplines for victims,
they have reviewed and amended legisla-
tion, improved their systems of data collec-
tion and intensified information campaigns.
Many participants emphasized the need to
involve more men in these activities.
This, however, does not mean that the
goals of the anti-violence programme have
been achieved. The states should continue
their work and deepen their cooperation in
the fight against violence against women.
The report summarizing the work of the
Task Force contains a  number of demands
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Co u n c i l o f Eu ro p e o n v i o l e n ce a g a i n s t wo m e n – g e n esis of the Convention
 

for further cooperation among the police, lence against women is a violation of human
the judiciary, public services and NGOs in- rights and is based on gender differences, it
volved in combating domestic violence would emphasize its specific character.
against women. Participants in the confer-
ence held on the occasion of the publication
of this report acknowledged that, given the
The Convention
completion of the Task Force’s work, it is The Council of Europe does not make
necessary to establish a permanent body to empty promises. In 2009, it organized two
monitor the prevention of violence against meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee on Pre-
women. It was decided that this purpose venting and Combating Violence against
would be best met by a new convention on Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO).
combating violence against women, includ- At its first meeting, Dubravka Šimonovič
ing domestic violence. from Croatia was elected president of the
The Task Force has prepared a number committee. She was the most active partic-
of studies and analyses aimed at estab- ipant in working group meetings during the
lishing minimum standards that should campaign. Eric Ruelle from the French Min-
be met by member states in order to pre- istry of Justice was elected as her deputy.
vent domestic violence against women. We Apart from government representa-
have learnt that there are no COE coun- tives, the sessions of the Committee are at-
tries with free hotlines operating 24 hours tended by the following non-voting mem-
a day, there are no countries with sufficient bers: the representatives of the Committee
number of shelters and there are no coun- of Regions, of the Parliamentary Assembly,
tries where the crime is prosecuted ex of- of the COE Commissioner for Human Rights
ficio. Without concrete measures taken by and of the following non-governmental or-
the Member States, the campaigns them- ganizations: Amnesty International, the Eu-
selves are not enough. ropean Women’s Lobby and the WAVE.
M. de Boer-Buquichhio, the Depu- Renée Römkens from the Universi-
ty Secretary General of the Council of Eu- ty of Tilburg and Christine Chinkin of the
rope, summed up the campaign as effec- London School of Economics and Politi-
tive, but requiring follow-up. The most cal Studies serve as expert advisors to the
successful element of the campaign was Committee.
an information campaign and cooperation John Kleijssen representing the COE Di-
at all levels of decision-making. Further rectorate for Human Rights and Legal Ques-
action must be based on systematic data tions listed three main reasons why COE has
collection and further exchange of expe- decided to work on a new convention. It was
riences and methods among the Member found that the convention is necessary since
States. M Boer-Buquichhio supported the member states do not ensure:
proposal to prepare a  draft convention on ƒƒ sufficient protection for women experi-
violence against women and stressed the encing domestic violence;
need to precisely define the scope of such ƒƒ effective prevention of violence;
convention that should go beyond the def- ƒƒ an effective judicial system.
inition of domestic violence. He expressed his satisfaction that
The convention on combating violence member states have appointed to the com-
against women, including domestic vio- mittee not only lawyers, but also experts
lence, will protect girls and women against on gender equality – mostly people who
all acts of violence: physical, psychologi- were involved in running the COE cam-
cal and sexual. Based on the belief that vio- paign, which had lead to setting up the

42
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

committee and to the proposal to prepare
and adopt the new convention.
Carlo Chiaromonte, the Secretary of
the Committee, reported that the group’s
mandate expires in October 2010, so the
convention should be drafted by that time.
The construction of the Convention will be
based on the famous Rule of 3 p: preven-
tion, protection and prosecution.
In the first round of discussions, most
Member States congratulated the Secre-
tariat to organize this historic meeting; so
far there has been no binding law on do-
mestic violence.
The first committee meeting focused on
exchanging views on the scope of the future
legal instrument. Some Member States be-
lieve that the convention should be gender
specific and therefore deal exclusively with
crimes against women. Other states opted
for an instrument with a  broad spectrum,
encompassing all forms of domestic crimes
occurring between those who remained in
close relationships, regardless of their gen-
der and formal nature of the relationship.
Still other countries proposed that the con-
vention should cover a wide range of abus-
es and at the same time deal with spe-
cific crimes against women in a  separate
section or an additional protocol. Differ-
ent points of departure resulted in a heat-
ed debate which, however, did not bring
about the compromise. Most delegations
opted for a  monitoring mechanism to be
included in the convention. Criminal pro-
visions of the Convention will be defined in
a neutral way, without specifying the gen-
der to be protected.
During the second round of delibera-
tions, the Committee focused on the anal-
ysis of the draft report submitted to the
Council of Ministers. As regards the scope
of the future convention, 22 delegations, in-
cluding a Polish one, supported the assump-
tion that it should cover all forms of vio-
lence against women, including domestic
violence. Nine delegations were in favour of
43
Monika Ksieniewicz  

limiting the scope of the convention prima-
rily to domestic violence. This time, howev-
er, the delegates managed to reach a com-
promise that the Convention should cov-
er the broad spectrum of forms of violence
against women and domestic violence.
The Convention will cover all forms of
violence against women, but not all of them
will be penalized. Distinct forms of violence
will be dealt with in different ways. Some
provisions may have a  declarative char-
acter and not provide for any penalty, but
serve an important educational role. It was
agreed that criminal provisions will be, in
principle, gender-neutral. The Convention
will require COE member states to amend
their national laws in order to penalize psy-
chological, physical and sexual violence,
sexual harassment, stalking, forced mar-
riage, female genital mutilation as well as
an assistance in committing or an attempt
to commit such an offence.
The Committee decided to draft one
convention that in the future may be sup-
plemented by additional protocols, in-
cluding the protocols on combating vio-
lence against children and the elderly. It
was also agreed that the future conven-
tion should be equipped with an effec-
tive and independent monitoring mecha-
nism. The implementation of the Conven-
tion is to be monitored by to the so-called
Expert Group, consisting of 10–15 people
of the highest moral character who are in-
dependent experts in the field of human
rights or violence against women. They
will be elected by the Committee of Min-
isters from among the candidates recom-
mended by governments, observing gen-
der and geographical balance. Candidates
will be appointed for a  specified period,
with the possibility of re-election.
The work on the text of the Convention
has begun in November 2009 and will be
continued in course of three meetings to be
held in 2010. The final text of the Conven-
tion should be adopted in late 2010 or 2011.
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

Parliamentarians can play
an active, committed and
indeed vital role in combating
violence against women
by promoting prevention,
help for victims and/or
survivors, action to make
the public aware of this
assault on human dignity,
and by criminalising acts of
domestic violence. Political
determination is essential
if we want to put a stop to
domestic violence and change
mentalities.
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Handbook for
parliamentarians
Parliaments united
in  combating domestic
violence against women1
Several types of action
are possible:
Taking a clear, decisive stand on domestic
violence against women
„„ Making sure that parliament discusses ac-
tion to stop domestic violence.
„„ Organising public and parliamentary de-
bates to highlight the problem, and par-
liamentary hearings to review laws and
other measures introduced to deal with it,
and assess their effectiveness.
„„ Taking a political and public stand against
domestic violence. Possibilities include
a solemn declaration, in which parliament
affirms its determination to eliminate such
violence, or a  declaration signed by indi-
vidual parliamentarians, who themselves
pledge to work against it.
1 
This section has been excerpted from the pub-
lication by the Council of Europe “Handbook for
Parliamentarians – Parliaments United in Com-
bating Domestic Violence Against Women”.
44

Promoting laws and regulations
What can parliaments
and parliamentarians do?
Ratification of international instruments
Parliaments can ask governments to
keep them informed of their plans for
ratification and implementation of inter-
national instruments. If ratification re-
quires parliament’s approval, it can urge
the government to send it the texts con-
cerned for that purpose, thus expediting
ratification and ensuring that they take
effect rapidly.
Harmonisation of national
and international law
Parliaments can ensure that govern-
ments table legislation which accords with
international agreements. Parliamentar-
ians should also use their constitutional
right to initiate legislation and table bills
themselves in parliament. This will lead to:
„„ adoption of laws, budgetary measures
and national plans to put a stop to domes-
tic violence against women. Such action
should include:
„„ criminalising and punishing rape within
marriage, in the same way as rape out-
side marriage, and barring violent spous-
es from the home (if not already provid-
ed for);
ƒƒ opening shelters for victims of domes-
tic violence and for their children;
ƒƒ training the staff concerned (health
workers, police, the courts, social and
education services, etc.);
ƒƒ setting up treatment centres for the
authors of domestic violence;
ƒƒ compiling gender-disaggregated data,
including the type of violence and re-
lationship between perpetrator and
victim;
„„ proposing that effective action be taken
to prevent and combat violence against
women, through laws and national action
plans based on Committee of Ministers
 

Recommendation Rec (2002)5, with regu-
lar assessment of such measures;
„„ setting up multi-party parliamentary com-
mittees on domestic violence to propose
new initiatives and monitor existing ones.
Supporting the preparation of national
action plans
Parliamentarians represent the people,
are themselves the product of civil society,
and are well placed to promote the inter-
ests of those who elected them. Being in
close contact with their constituents, they
are fully aware of their problems. They can
play a useful part in devising action plans
to ensure that national and international
legal obligations are respected – and their
involvement brings these plans more ful-
ly into line with the public’s real needs and
concerns. They can help by:
„„ involving national and local NGOs working
against domestic violence in parliamenta-
ry discussion of new laws and regulations;
„„ organising seminars on domestic violence
with medical and paramedical staff, school
staff, police officers, socio-professional
groups working in particular with women,
and trade union and NGO representatives;
„„ paying special attention to the groups
most exposed to the dangers and con-
sequences of domestic violence, for ex-
ample, migrant women and women with
immigrant backgrounds, Roma wom-
en, women from other ethnic minorities,
pregnant, disabled or vulnerable wom-
en, women in precarious situations, and
women with alcohol and drug problems.
Assistance in ensuring that compulsory
reports are submitted
Many international instruments re-
quire governments to submit regular re-
ports on action taken to comply with
them. Parliamentarians, as representa-
tives of the people, are particu- larly well
placed to assess the work of the executive
in preparing these reports.
45 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Ha n d b o o k f o r p a r l i a m e nt a ri a n s
 
Exercising parliamentary
supervision
Parliaments exercise their superviso-
ry function in several ways: by examin-
ing governments’ reports on their activi-
ties; by putting questions and parliamen-
tary questions to ministers; by setting up
special committees, by organising field
trips to check on government action and
by suggesting corrective measures, etc.
What can parliament
and parliamentarians do?
They can:
„„ put pressure on governments to ensure
that they respect their international legal
obligations;
„„ question the government on action taken
to enforce laws on domestic violence, and
on resources committed to combating it;
„„ campaign for the appointment of a parlia-
mentary commissioner/ombudsperson for
violence against women;
„„ promote discussion in parliament on is-
sues connected with the Parliamentary
Assembly’s work on domestic violence;
„„ make sure that every effort has been taken
to publicise the laws adopted and action tak-
en to assist the victims of domestic violence;
„„ help to audit/assess action taken by gov-
ernment on domestic violence, and pro-
mote the necessary reforms;
„„ include action against domestic violence
on the programme for study visits aimed
at allowing parliamentarians to learn
from one another, exchange good practic-
es and/or provide technical assistance for
parliaments wishing to make their laws on
domestic violence more effective.
Mobilising appropriate financial
resources in parliament
Most national budgets must be approved
by parliament, and this gives the latter
a substantial say in the use of public money.
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
What can parliament
and parliamentarians do?
They can:
„„ ensure that substantial sums are spent on
combating domestic violence. Parliaments
can usually insist on changes in nation-
al budgets, within the limits of the total
sums provided – and can thus ensure that
this sector gets adequate funding;
„„ set up a  compensation fund for victims,
based on fines paid by perpetrators of do-
mestic violence;
„„ encourage governments to contribute
voluntarily to the funding of international
co-operation schemes aimed at stopping
domestic violence against women. These
contributions should be formally provided
for in national budgets;
„„ encourage governments to fund specific
national and European projects at inter-
governmental, parliamentary, local and
regional level.
Using parliamentary office to help
combat domestic violence against
women, on all levels of action and
representation
Parliamentarians are, first and fore-
most, elected representatives with local
constituencies. They promote their fellow
citizens’ interests, and protecting their hu-
man rights is part of this. As parliamentar-
ians and party members, they have influ-
ence and the power to initiate change. Of-
ten, too, they have community functions.
Their contacts with local business, social
and cultural actors put them in close touch
with the public and their everyday prob-
lems – even private problems.
What can parliamentarians do?
They can:
„„ suggest ways of publicising the problem
of violence against women, making peo-
46

ple see that this is an assault on human
dignity in the member states of the Coun-
cil of Europe and encourage every citizen
to act to stop it;
„„ launch, support and raise funds for local
anti-violence projects, having first identi-
fied local needs and interests – and the
type of project likeliest to serve them. Get
involved in the implementation of these
projects. This is something which parlia-
mentarians can do particularly well;
„„ help secure parliamentary backing for an-
ti-violence projects launched by NGOs
and by local and regional authorities;
„„ promote dialogue with local authorities,
encourage them to combat domestic vio-
lence, and persuade decision makers and
fund providers to back their efforts;
„„ remind the media that stereotyped imag-
es of women can trivialise domestic vio-
lence;
„„ ensure that their own party acts to stop
domestic violence and promotes human
rights as a  keystone priority in its policy
statements and other guiding texts.
Questions and answers
You want to do something about do-
mestic violence, but your associates are
hard to convince? The following are some
of the most common objections – and
a few counter-arguments.
“The anti-violence measures you’re
proposing cost too much.”
Providing protection and social back-
up for the victims of domestic violence
certainly costs a  lot of money, but deal-
ing with the financial consequences of
violence – legal costs, medical care, lost
working hours, emergency accommoda-
tion, legal and psychological support for
victims, etc. – costs even more.
Money spent on preventing domestic
violence reduces its financial impact and
opens the way to increased gender equality.
 

“Does domestic violence really exist
in each European country? Surely it’s
limited to certain social groups or ethnic
minorities?”
Domestic violence against women is
a problem in all Council of Europe mem-
ber states, and an attack on human dig-
nity. It is not specific to certain countries,
age groups or communities, and occurs in
all types of family relationship and in eve-
ry social milieu.
The Assembly rejects any attempt to
link domestic violence with specific cul-
tures or religions, since this may lead
states to shirk their duty of eliminating
such violence in all its forms.2 Statistics do
not seem to show that domestic violence
is more widespread in immigrant commu-
nities. However, immigrant women vic-
tims of domestic violence encounter extra
problems, due to language barriers, fam-
ily pressure, and sometimes the fact that
their legal status depends solely on the
husband they have joined. Specific meas-
ures must therefore be taken to ensure
that immigrant women who are victims of
domestic violence enjoy equal and effec-
tive access to legal rights and protection.
“Why is nothing ever said about violence
against men, including domestic violence?”
The Council of Europe does not deny
that men can also be subjected to psy-
chological or physical violence by part-
ners or families (see explanatory memo-
randum on Recommendation Rec (2002)5
of the Committee of Ministers to member
states on the protection of women against
violence). At the same time, research car-
ried out in some member states on male
victims of violence by women shows that
this, statistically, remains a  minor phe-
nomenon for the time being.
2
Document 10934 (19 May 2006): “Parliaments
united in combating domestic violence against
women”, Parliamentary Assembly of the Coun-
cil of Europe, Ms Cliveti.
47 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Ha n d b o o k f o r p a r l i a m e nt a ri a n s
 
Moreover, the special features of vio-
lence against women and girls, as com-
pared with other types, justify the action
taken against it. For one thing, it reflects
general domination of one sex over the
other. For another, society is frequently
readier to accept it. Often, too, violence
against girls is an expression of cultural
or religious traditions which conform to
those patterns.3
Thus, the Declaration on the Elimina-
tion of Violence against Women, adopt-
ed by the General Assembly of the Unit-
ed Nations on 20 December 1993, clear-
ly states that “violence against wom-
en is a  manifestation of historically un-
equal power relations between men and
women, which have led to domination
over and discrimination against wom-
en by men and to the prevention of the
full advancement of women” and that “vi-
olence against women is one of the cru-
cial social mechanisms by which wom-
en are forced into a  subordinate posi-
tion compared with men”. Moreover, as
Yakin Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on vio-
lence against women, says in a report for
the United Nations Economic and Social
Committee:“This universal phenomenon
is embedded in a patriarchal legacy, at the
core of which lies the interest of a  social
group in sustaining and controlling social-
ly acceptable lines of reproduction of the
species. Within this context, as an institu-
tionalised special mechanism, male power
is used to control women’s reproductive
capacity and sexuality. […] This basic ten-
et of patriarchal gender order represents
a convergence of cultures where violence
or the threat of violence has been used as
a legitimate mechanism of enforcing and
sustaining that system of domination.”
3
Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Commit-
tee of Ministers to member states on the pro-
tection of women against violence, adopted
on 30 April 2002, explanatory memorandum,
paragraph 24.
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
These are some of the reasons which
led the Council of Europe to focus its cam-
paign on violence inflicted on women.
• Source: Economic and Social Council of the United
Nations, doc E/CN.4/2004/66, Integration of the hu-
man rights of women and the gender perspective:
violence against women – towards an effective im-
plementation of international norms to end violence
against women, 26 December 2003.
“I can’t ‘sell’ domestic violence – the press
and my constituents aren’t interested.”
In denouncing domestic violence, we
are promoting human rights and person-
al dignity. This is something which affects
voters in their daily lives, and parliamen-
tarians have a chance to break the silence,
start working on the issue – and change
those daily lives.
In denouncing domestic violence, we
are fighting for greater gender equali-
ty and taking arms against a  patriarchal
culture which locks people into a relation-
ship where men have power over women
and control their lives.
Eliminating domestic violence is a ma-
jor social challenge – and men, women
and the whole community will benefit if
we meet it successfully.
Every day, the media report domestic
tragedies which show how little the au-
thorities can do to protect certain mem-
bers of the public. In combating domestic
violence, parliamentarians show the me-
dia that they are not prepared to sit back
and accept a situation which no state gov-
erned by the rule of law can tolerate.
“All the same, you can’t put a violent
husband out of his own home – it’s his
property and he has a right to it!”
Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Euro-
pean Convention on Human Rights states:
“No one shall be deprived of his possessions
except in the public interest and subject to
the conditions provided for by law and by
the general principles of international law.”
48

When domestic violence puts a person
at risk, the police should have power to
expel the culprit from the home at once,
regardless of who owns it and of any ob-
jections by others who live there.
Recommendation Rec (2002)5 pro-
vides for restraining orders, banning per-
petrators from approaching the victim’s
residence and/or other places (in the past,
it was the victim who had to leave the
home). Some Council of Europe mem-
ber states already have rules of this kind,
which are designed to protect victims and
also spare them the additional trauma of
having to leave their homes. In Austria,
for example, expulsion by the police is an
administrative measure, and must later
be confirmed by the courts.
Good practices: specific
parliamentary initiatives
– a few examples
Domestic violence, an aggravating
circumstance
France: Act No. 2006–399 of 4 April
2006, introducing more stringent meas-
ures to prevent and punish violence per-
petrated by spouses/partners or inflict-
ed on minors The act introduces harsher
penalties for violence on the part of previ-
ous or present husbands/partners.
Spain: Implementing Act 1/2004 on
measures to provide comprehensive pro-
tection against gender-based violence.
Violence perpetrated by a  spouse/
partner is an aggravating circumstance
and carries a heavier penalty. Under Arti-
cle 147 of the Criminal Code, for example,
the normal prison sentence for assault
and wounding is 6 months to 3 years, but
this increases to 2 to 5 years, when the of-
fender is a spouse/partner.
Cyprus: The Act on violence “in the
family” Under the act, violence committed
in the family is an aggravated offence, and
 

carries a heavier penalty than other forms
of violence covered by the Criminal Code.
Shelters and accommodation for
victims of domestic violence
Legislation on housing/tenancy agreements
United Kingdom: Housing Act 1996,
Homelessness Act 2002, the Homeless-
ness (priority need for accommodation)
(England) Order 2002 with accompanying
Code of Conduct
Under Article 6 of the above order,
priority goes to persons who are “vulner-
able as a  result of ceasing to occupy ac-
commodation by reason of violence from
another person or threats of violence from
another person which are likely to be car-
ried out”.
The Code of Guidance says that local
authorities should not, when enforcing
the act and assessing the risks in specif-
ic cases, endeavour to secure proof of vio-
lence or contact the perpetrator. It makes
the point that the effects of domestic vi-
olence are sometimes cumulative, and
that incidents recurring over time can un-
dermine victims’ self-confidence and so
make them more vulnerable.
Canada: Amendment to Article 174 of
the Quebec Civil Code
In cases of domestic violence or sex-
ual aggression threatening the safety of
the victim or her children, Article 174.1
of the Quebec Civil Code can be used to
annul a tenancy agreement. The landlord
must be given three months’ notice, ac-
companied by a signed statement from
a civil servant or representative appoint-
ed by the Minister of Justice, confirming
that a  danger exists. The person signing
must first see a declaration, made by the
victim on her honour, detailing the risk to
which she is (or has been) exposed. The
whole must be accompanied by support-
ing documents from persons familiar with
the victim’s situation.
49 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Ha n d b o o k f o r p a r l i a m e nt a ri a n s
 
France: Circular of the Ministry of Hous-
ing and the Ministry of Women’s Rights
This circular asks heads of department
to give priority to the special needs of
women in situations of extreme distress,
including women heads of family and vic-
tims of domestic violence with children,
when drawing up departmental action
plans for under-privileged persons.
Shelters for women and children
Turkey: Municipalities Act
Section 14 of the Municipalities Act
(Law No. 5272) which came into force on
24 December 2004, requires major cit-
ies and towns with over 50 000 inhabit-
ants to provide shelters for women and
children. The Directorate General for the
Status of Women is preparing a standard
service model to provide local authorities
with guidance on running the services
for women which the Act requires them
to provide. This has been sent to munic-
ipalities and provincial governments. To
ensure a  certain level of quality in these
shelters, norms have been drawn up and
sent to the major cities.
Removing violent spouses
Austria: Federal act on protection
against violence in the family, 1 May
1997, amended in 2003 (came into force
on 1 January 2004)
This act allows the police to expel any
person who represents a threat to others
in the home, regardless of his relationship
with them or his rights as owner of the
home, for a period of ten days, which may
be extended at the victim’s request.
The 2003 amendment extends this
protection to anyone who lives, or has
lived, with a  potentially violent person
in a  family or family-type relationship.
The police have sole authority to enforce
these measures, no action by the victim
is necessary. The violent person in ques-
tion is banned from entering the home or
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
any place frequented by the victim (work-
place, school, etc.) specified in “Needs of
the victim for effective protection”.
The police are even required to seek
injunctions against arrested offenders,
since release is a  constant possibility. If
an injunction is annulled, the victim must
at once be informed.
The police visit and interview the vic-
tim within 24 hours, and refer the case
to the relevant provincial action centre,
which then contacts the victim, gives him
or her free advice on securing his or her
rights and provides free assistance during
court proceedings.
The police, first resort in cases of domestic
violence
Most victims of domestic violence
turn first to the police for help – but the
police are not always diligent in following
up their complaints. There are countries
where certain forms of violence against
women are traditionally seen as private
matters – with the result that victims get
no justice and are deterred from report-
ing offences. Research shows indeed that
a mere 2% to 20% of women victims file
complaints, or do so only when repeated-
ly subjected to violence.
Women victims of domestic violence
should be able to count on a sympathet-
ic hearing at their local police station, and
rely on the police to treat them respect-
fully, offer help and protection, and ex-
plain procedures. They must also be cer-
tain that appropriate action will be tak-
en against the perpetrator. Police officers
whose behaviour is incompatible with re-
spect for human rights or victim protec-
tion should be prosecuted or disciplined.
Models might include the UK approach
to dealing with rape victims, the Fami-
ly Violence Unit at the Strasbourg police
headquarters (the only one of its kind in
France) and the “specialist officers” ap-
pointed at Paris police stations.
50

In Austria, many Länder authorise or
require the police to send personal de-
tails of victims to a special guidance cen-
tre (action centre), advise it of all banning
orders, and indeed all cases in which the
police take action on domestic violence.
In Denmark, police training covers vi-
olence against women.
In Germany, many of the schools
which train social workers cover domes-
tic violence in depth, and some Länder
have arranged special training for police
and appointed trained facilitators to po-
lice units; the government has also pro-
duced interactive CD-Roms to train police
and hospital staff.
• Source: Document 10934 (19 May 2006),“Parlia-
ments united in combating domes- tic violence
against women”, rapporteur: Ms Cliveti (Romania,
Socialist Group).
Guaranteeing the economic
survival of victims of domestic
violence
Budgetary provision for victims
United Kingdom: Domestic Violence,
Crime and Victims Act 2004
„„ The authority responsible for awarding
compensation in cases of criminal injury
may compel offenders to pay victims com-
pensation.
„„ Serious and repeat offenders face addi-
tional fines on conviction, and these are
paid into a special fund for victims.
Domestic violence and immigration law
Austria: Regulations limiting the num­
ber of work permits issued to aliens
Under these regulations, the statuto-
ry limit on the number of work permits
 

issued to aliens may be exceeded in cer-
tain cases, including cases of domestic vi-
olence. This provision was inserted in the
regulations in 1997 (Federal Law Gazette
II, No. 256).
The aim was to ensure that women
migrants exposed to domestic violence
could earn a  living, but the rules proved
over-restrictive. They were according-
ly supplemented in 2003 (Federal Law
Gazette II, No. 249). The following now
suffice for entitlement to a  work permit:
a  police report on a  violent spouse (a  fi-
nal criminal conviction was the previous
requirement), a divorce under foreign law
(a decree of divorce based on fault, grant-
ed by an Austrian court, was the previous
requirement), or report or confirmation of
presumed domestic violence by qualified
persons or institutions, for example, doc-
tors, hospitals, action centres, shelters for
battered wives, youth aid bureaux, etc.
Domestic violence and labour law
Spain: regulations on civil servants
who are victims of gender- based vio-
lence. The Concilia Plan was signed by the
Spanish Government in December 2005
and is aimed at the country’s 500 000 civ-
il servants, giving them:
„„ the right to apply for transfer to another
unit or locality.
Civil servants subjected to gender-
based violence and obliged to leave their
jobs may ask to be appointed to another
unit or locality.
„„ the right to take special leave without first
working for a mini- mum period
The Concilia Plan allows civil servants
to take special leave, for the purpose of
defending themselves effectively, without
stipulating that they must have a  mini-
mum period of service or hold a  perma-
nent post. For the first two months, they
receive their full salary.
51 Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

The European Parliament,
– having regard to the provisions of
the UN legal instruments in the sphere of
human rights, in particular those concern-
ing women’s rights, such as the UN Char-
ter, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants on
Civil and Political Rights and on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention
for the Suppression of the Traffic in Per-
sons and of the Exploitation of the Pros-
titution of Others, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) and its Option-
al Protocol, and the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or De-
grading Treatment or Punishment,
– having regard to other UN instru-
ments on violence against women, such
as the Vienna Declaration and Programme
of Action of 25 June 1993 adopted by the
World Conference on Human Rights (A/
CONF. 157/23), the Declaration on the
Elimination of Violence against Women
52
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
European
Parliament
resolution of 26
November 2009
on the elimination
of violence
against women
of 20 December 1993 (A/RES/48/104),
the UN General Assembly resolutions of
12 December 1997 entitled “Crime pre-
vention and criminal justice measures to
eliminate violence against women” (A/
RES/52/86), of 18 December 2002 enti-
tled “Working towards the elimination of
crimes against women committed in the
name of honour” (A/RES/57/179), and of
22 December 2003 entitled “Elimination
of domestic violence against women” (A/
RES/58/147), the reports by the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights’ Special
Rapporteurs on violence against women,
and the General Recommendation No 19
adopted by the Committee on the Elimi-
nation of Discrimination Against Women
(11th session, 1992),
– having regard to the Beijing Decla-
ration and Platform for Action adopted by
the Fourth World Conference on Women
on 15 September 1995 and Parliament’s
resolutions of 18 May 2000 on the fol-
low-up to the Beijing Action Platform(1)

and of 10 March 2005 on the follow-up to
the Fourth World Conference on Women –
Platform for Action (Beijing+10)(2),
– having regard to the report of the
UN Secretary-General of 6 July 2006 en-
titled “In-depth study on all forms of vio-
lence against women” (A/61/122/Add.1),
– having regard to the Charter of Fun-
damental Rights of the European Union,
– having regard to the UN General As-
sembly resolution of 19 December 2006
entitled “Intensification of efforts to elim-
inate all forms of violence against wom-
en” (A/RES/61/143),
– having regard to resolution 2003/45
of the UN Commission on Human Rights
of 23 April 2003 entitled “Elimination
of violence against women” (E/CN.4/
RES/2003/45),
– having regard to the resolution of
the Inter-Parliamentary Union adopted by
the 114th Assembly on 12 May 2006 on
the role of parliaments in combating vio-
lence against women,
– having regard to its resolution of 16
September 1997 on the need to establish
a European Union wide campaign for zero
tolerance of violence against women(3),
– having regard to its resolution of 2
February 2006 on the current situation in
combating violence against women and
any future action(4),
– having regard to its resolution of 11
October 2007 on the murder of women
(feminicide) in Mexico and Central Amer-
ica and the role of the European Union in
fighting the phenomenon(5),
– having regard to its resolution of 24
March 2009 on combating female genital
mutilation in the EU(6),
– having regard to the questions
of 1 October 2009 to the Council (O-
0096/2009 – B7-0220/2009) and Com-
mission (O-0097/2009 – B7-0221/2009)
on elimination of violence against women,
53
 

– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its
Rules of Procedure,
A.  whereas the Beijing UN Platform
for Action defined violence against wom-
en as any act of gender-based violence
that results in, or is likely to result in,
physical, sexual or psychological harm or
suffering to women, including threats of
such acts, coercion or arbitrary depriva-
tion of liberty,
B.  whereas the Beijing UN Platform
for Action stated that violence against
women is a  manifestation of the histor-
ically unequal power relations between
men and women, which have led to dom-
ination over and discrimination against
women by men and the prevention of
women’s full advancement,
C.  whereas men’s violence against
women is not only a  public health prob-
lem, but also an aspect of inequality be-
tween women and men, which is an area
in which the EU has the mandate to take
action,
D.  whereas equality between women
and men is a core principle of the EU, rec-
ognised in the EC Treaty and in the Char-
ter of Fundamental Rights of the Europe-
an Union,
E.  whereas men’s violence against
women represents a  violation of human
rights, and in particular: the right to life,
the right to safety, the right to dignity,
the right to physical and mental integri-
ty, and the right to sexual and reproduc-
tive choice and health,
F.  whereas men’s violence against
women is an obstacle to the participation
of women in social activities, in political
and public life and in the labour market,
and can lead to marginalisation and pov-
erty for women,
G.  whereas, in its extreme form, vi-
olence against women can lead to their
murder,
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Eu ro p e a n Pa r l i a m e nt re s o l u t i o n o f 2 6 Nove m b e r 2 0 0 9 on the elimination of violence against women
 
H.  whereas violence against women
goes hand in hand with violence against
children and has an impact on children’s
psychological wellbeing and lives,
I.  whereas violence against women
as mothers directly and indirectly affects
and has a  long-lasting negative impact
on their children’s emotional and mental
health, and can create a cycle of violence
and abuse which is perpetuated through
generations,
J.  whereas men’s violence against
women is a  structural and widespread
problem throughout Europe and the world,
a  phenomenon affecting victims and per-
petrators irrespective of age, education,
income or social position, and is linked to
the unequal distribution of power between
women and men in our society,
K.  whereas the types of violence per-
petrated against women vary in different
cultures and traditions, and whereas fe-
male genital mutilation, so-called crimes
of honour and forced marriages are a re-
ality in the EU,
L.  whereas situations of war and
armed conflict, post-conflict reconstruc-
tion and economic, social and/or financial
crises increase the vulnerability of women
individually and collectively to male vio-
lence against them and should not be con-
sidered as an excuse to tolerate male vi-
olence,
M.  whereas trafficking in women for
sexual and other purposes constitutes
a  fundamental violation of women’s hu-
man rights, and is harmful to the individ-
ual victims as well as to society at large,
N.  whereas the tolerance of prostitu-
tion in Europe leads to an increase in traf-
ficking of women into Europe for sexual
purposes, and to sex tourism,
O.  whereas there is no regular and
comparable data collection on different
types of violence against women in the
54
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
EU, which makes it difficult to ascertain
the real extent of the phenomenon and
find appropriate solutions to the problem,
P.  whereas the number of women vic-
tims of gender-based violence is alarming,
Q.  whereas the frequently distorted,
consumerist image of women conveyed
by the media undermines respect for hu-
man dignity,
R.  whereas, apart from economic de-
pendence (which is often the case for
women), important factors in female vic-
tims not reporting violence lie in the soci-
etal culture and representations suggest-
ing that men’s violence against women
is a  private matter or that women them-
selves are often to blame for such violence,
S.  whereas frequently, for a  variety of
complex psychological, financial, social,
and cultural reasons, women do not report
men’s violence against them and are some-
times deterred from doing so by a  lack of
confidence in the police, the judicial system
and social and medical services,
T.  whereas it has frequently called
for the creation of a  European Year for
the elimination of all forms of violence
against women,
U.  whereas the UN has declared 25
November the International Day for Elim-
ination of Violence Against Women, and
whereas an international seminar on vio-
lence against women is to be held at the
European Parliament in December 2009,
V.  whereas there is a pressing need to
introduce a  comprehensive legal instru-
ment aimed at combating all forms of vio-
lence against women in Europe, including
trafficking in women,
1.  Urges the Member States to im-
prove their national laws and policies
to combat all forms of violence against
women, in particular through the devel-
opment of comprehensive national action
plans to combat violence against women,

based on an analysis of the gender-equal-
ity implications of violence against wom-
en and the international treaty obligations
of Member States to eliminate all forms
of discrimination against women, and in-
cluding concrete measures to prevent
male violence, protect victims and prose-
cute perpetrators;
2.  Urges the Member States to pro-
vide assistance, under appropriate nation-
al programmes and financing schemes, to
voluntary bodies and organisations which
offer shelter and psychological support to
female victims of violence, not least in or-
der to enable them to re-enter the labour
market and in that way fully regain their
human dignity;
3.  Calls on the Commission to submit
to the Parliament and the Council a  tar-
geted and a more coherent EU policy plan
to combat all forms of violence against
women, as stated in the Commission
communication of 1 March 2006 entitled
“A Roadmap for equality between women
and men 2006-2010” (COM(2006)0092),
to include measures to combat violence
against women in its action programme
for equal opportunities for men and wom-
en for 2011-2016, as well as concrete
measures to prevent all forms of violence,
protect victims and prosecute perpetra-
tors, and to ensure that an analysis of the
gender equality implications of male vi-
olence against women in all policy areas
is carried out and that the EU institutions
and the Member States develop a coordi-
nated, committed and coherent response
in order to eradicate such violence;
4.  Urges the Commission to study the
option of adopting new measures to com-
bat violence against women;
5.  Calls on the Commission to organ-
ise a  special high-level conference to be
attended by representatives of political
bodies, civil society and social and institu-
55
 

tional organisations, with the aim of con-
tributing to a process of developing more
coherent policies addressing all forms of
violence against women;
6.  Calls on the EU to guarantee the
right to assistance and support for all vic-
tims of violence, including trafficking in
human beings, regardless of the victim’s
nationality, and protection of female vic-
tims of domestic violence whose legal sta-
tus might depend on their partner;
7.  Calls on the EU to set up mecha-
nisms to ensure that the gender-equality
analysis of trafficking in human beings is
part of all laws and policies aimed at pre-
venting and combating trafficking, and to
address the root causes of violence through
preventive measures such as sanctions,
education and awareness campaigns;
8.  Points out that it is still waiting for
the results of the Commission study on
legislation on gender-based violence and
violence against women;
9.  Calls on the Commission and the
Member States to ensure that female vic-
tims of violence have proper access to le-
gal aid and to protection, irrespective of
their nationality and the nature of their
involvement in police investigations;
10.  Urges the Council and Commis-
sion to establish a  clear legal basis for
combating all forms of violence against
women, including trafficking;
11.  Calls on the Commission to start
work on drafting a  proposal for a  compre-
hensive directive on action to prevent and
combat all forms of violence against women;
12.  Calls on the Commission and the
Member States to act to tackle the caus-
es of violence against women, not least by
employing preventive measures and un-
dertaking awareness campaigns on the dif-
ferent forms that such violence can take;
13.  Calls on the Commission and the
Member States to embark on concerted ac-
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 Eu ro p e a n Pa r l i a m e nt re s o l u t i o n o f 2 6 Nove m b e r 2 0 0 9 on the elimination of violence against women
 
tion, including public awareness and infor-
mation campaigns, on domestic violence,
as well as strategies aimed at changing the
social stereotyping of women through ed-
ucation and the media, and to encourage
the exchange of good practice;
14.  Calls on the Commission and the
Member States to address violence against
women and the gender-related dimension
of human rights violations internationally,
in particular in the context of the bilateral
association and international trade agree-
ments in force and those under negotiation;
15.  Deplores, in this context, the lack
of a meaningful gender dimension in the
compulsory sustainability impact assess-
ments which are carried out prior to the
conclusion of such agreements, let alone
any acknowledgement of the issue of sex-
ual violence, and of a set of tools to ana-
lyse gender impact, and calls on the Com-
mission to come forward as soon as possi-
ble with a proposal to solve this problem;
16.  Calls on the Member States to have
due regard for the specific circumstances
of certain categories of women who are
particularly vulnerable to violence, such
as women belonging to minorities, female
immigrants, female refugees, women liv-
ing in poverty in rural or isolated commu-
nities, women in prison or other institu-
tions, girls, homosexual women, women
with disabilities, and older women;
17.  Urges the Member States to step
up measures to prevent gender-based vi-
olence among young people by provid-
ing for targeted education campaigns
and better cooperation among stakehold-
ers and the various circles affected by the
phenomenon, such as families, schools,
the public space, and the media;
18.  Calls on the Commission also to
address the international dimension of vi-
olence against women in the context of
its work on corporate social responsibil-
56
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
ity, in particular in relation to European
undertakings working in export-process-
ing zones;
19.  Stresses the importance of prop-
er training for those working with female
victims of male violence, including repre-
sentatives of the justice system and law
enforcement, with particular reference to
the police, the courts, social, medical and
legal services, labour market agencies,
employers and trade unions;
20.  Calls for the creation of mecha-
nisms to facilitate access for women who
are victims of gender violence or traffick-
ing networks to free legal aid enabling
them to assert their rights throughout the
Union; insists on the need to improve co-
operation among legal professionals and
the exchange of best practices in the fight
against discrimination and gender vio-
lence, and to find ways of eliminating ob-
stacles to the recognition of legal acts in
other Member States, including sentences
for gender-violence offences and injunc-
tions against violent men;
21.  Welcomes the fact that courts
have been set up in some Member States
to deal with violence against women, and
calls on all Member States to take this in-
itiative further;
22.  Calls for records concerning gen-
der-based violence to play a  central role
within the European Criminal Records In-
formation System (ECRIS);
23.  Urges the Member States to intro-
duce a coherent system for collecting sta-
tistics on violence against women, with
particular reference to violence against
minors, and including murders commit-
ted in the context of violence within the
family or close relationships, in close co-
operation with the European Institute for
Gender Equality in order to obtain com-
parable data concerning violence against
women throughout the EU;

24.  Urges the Member States to recog-
nise sexual violence and rape against wom-
en, including within marriage and intimate
informal relationships and/or where com-
mitted by male relatives, as a crime in cas-
es where the victim did not give consent,
and to ensure that such offences result in
automatic prosecution and reject any ref-
erence to cultural, traditional or religious
practices or traditions as a mitigating fac-
tor in cases of violence against women, in-
cluding so-called ‘crimes of honour’ and
female genital mutilation;
25.  Notes that some Member States
have been implementing policies aimed
at recognising sexual violence between
partners, and specifically marital violence,
as a crime; calls on the Member States to
study the outcome of those policies with
a view to encouraging a Europe-wide ex-
change of good practice;
26.  Calls on the Member States to
take appropriate measures to stop female
genital mutilation; points out that immi-
grants residing in the Community should
be aware that female genital mutilation is
57
 

a  serious assault on women’s health and
a violation of human rights; calls on Mem-
ber States either to implement specific le-
gal provisions on female genital mutilation
or to adopt such laws and prosecute all
persons who conduct genital mutilation;
27.  Calls on the EU to guarantee the
right to assistance and support for all vic-
tims of male violence against women;
28.  Urges the Member States to in-
vestigate without delay the extreme hu-
man rights abuses against Roma women,
penalise the perpetrators and provide ad-
equate compensation to victims of forced
sterilisation;
29.  Instructs its President to forward
this resolution to the Council, the Com-
mission, the governments of the Member
States and the UN Secretary-General.
(1)
OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 258.
(2)
OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p. 247.
(3)
OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 55.
(4)
OJ C 288 E, 25.11.2006, p. 66.
(5)
OJ C 227 E, 4.9.2008, p. 140.
(6)
Texts adopted, P6_TA(2009)0161.
Part I: NEW LEGAL AND POLITICAL STRATEGIES AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
 H ERSTORY

The story I am 34 years old. All that remain of my marriage are two
wonderful children and bitter memories resembling a horror
of Dorota movie rather than family life. My husband has abused alco-
hol since 1996. In 2001, he went to the clinic, but all attempts
to treat him failed. Actually, he did not want to be treated. He
had antabuse implants three times.
After having some vodka, my husband resembled the
devil in human skin, who kept inventing newer and newer
ways to humiliate me and our children. As if this were not
enough, his mother blamed me for his addiction.
One day, I reported the case of domestic abuse to the
prosecution. He was sentenced under Art. 207 of the Penal
Code to one year imprisonment, suspended for three years.
On several occasions, he was punished by the administra-
tive court for disturbing the neighbours. They, however, were
reluctant to testify on our behalf. They were afraid of him. He
rang them up at night and banged on their door. They might
say anything anonymously, but not in court. Some even
threatened me, that if I do not do something with my hus-
band, they would demand our eviction. The case of criminal
threats was discontinued. There were no witnesses. The Po-
lice refused to hear the children as witnesses. No one talked
to them, no one asked about the stress they lived in or how it
would harm their health, their thinking, emotions and abili-
ty to learn. What about their rights?! I sometimes wonder, on
whose behalf those children rights have been adopted.
In addition to mental and physical abuse, my husband for-
bade us to use domestic appliances and daily necessities. He
used to take them away from the house and sell them to buy
booze. He claimed he had the right to squander our marital
property, my life’s work, and that I couldn’t do anything to him.
In January 2007, he was again convicted under Article 207 –
this time for two years in jail – a milder sentence for the same
offense! The penalty was again suspended. Despite two con-
victions, my husband continued to abuse me and our children.
I called the police, but they were increasingly less likely to in-
tervene. They were clearly fed up with us and complained that
their interventions had not done any good. When the police re-
fused to intervene, I sought help from the Women’s Rights Cen-
tre. They did what they could. However, the prosecutor did not
want to bring another case because of two earlier convictions.
The court should first order the execution of suspended sen-
tences. Why assume another case? – they argued.
The probation officer filed a motion to execute the sen-
tence. The court was to make a decision at the closed ses-

58
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 H ERSTORY

sion, but it was postponed from month to month. In the meantime, there
were about 20 police interventions in our apartment. I was frightened of
staying at home. I could no longer stand our daily rows. One day, in a
court building, after another divorce hearing, he tried to push me down
the stairs. I was afraid to return home. I put up at my friend’s place and
with my parents in a neighbouring province. In October 2007, the court
decided to maintain a suspended sentence. The judge was satisfied
with his oral statement that he had not lived with us, had not contacted
us and had started to work. He kept getting new jobs before each court
sitting, and chucking them after. I submitted an application for a writ-
ten justification of that ruling. I was told, however, that I was not a par-
ty, and I have no right to ask for justification. I returned to the apart-
ment only when he left it. I had to change the lock, because he demol-
ished the door so that I was not able to lock it.
My husband did not keep his promise to the court that was not go-
ing to live with us under the same roof. After a brief absence, he once
again moved in, breaking the door. I filed a complaint for larceny and
malicious destruction of property, but it was waived because his fami-
ly testified that most of the things that were carried away or destroyed
belonged to them, not to us. No one asked our children. I do not know
why children are not allowed to testify, but are allowed to live in hell.
The Police managed to find out my husband frequented beer bars
and tried to talk his friends into breaking into our apartment. There
was theft, but no perpetrator, so the case was remitted again. After all
these rows I was ashamed to come into our staircase, especially when
the neighbours kept asking me to do something about the noise, or oth-
erwise they would notify the cooperative and demand our eviction.
My husband holds full control over our property (two garages and
an apartment). He rents them for a fee, but does not pay rent, so the
debt is growing and is already about 4 000 PLN. The payment was de-
ferred only until May 1, and if we hadn’t paid, a debt collector would
have come. The division of our property could not be accomplished
without a final decision by the court. I didn’t know how to get out of this
vicious circle.
A new probation officer took to work very conscientiously. He gath-
ered up everything you need to clarify the matter, and in February
2008, he filed another petition asking the court to execute the sentence,
but it has not been approved, so far.
Finally, I decided I couldn’t stand it any longer. More than a year
ago I moved out. There are still quarrels and drinking sprees at this
place, but somehow nobody seems to care about it any more – there
are few complaints in the cooperative. I had to go away because of the
children, so that they could have quiet nights and normal conditions to
learn and play, but also because of my mother in law, who poked her
nose in everything. In March or April last year, I called the police be-

59
 H ERSTORY

cause she insulted me in vulgar language. Another day, she helped her
drunken son to carry away valuable things and to destroy the door to
our apartment. She keeps denying that her son is addicted to alcohol
and blames me for everything.
Next time, she threw shoes at my mother’s face and dumped the gar-
bage on my head. When, in September 2008, I went to her apartment
in the company of the police to take the satchel and books, she refused
to open the door. She cried that she was frightened – I do not know of
whom: of me or the police. She didn’t even bring the satchel to school. I
have complained to the Public Prosecutor, but the Prosecutor’s office re-
fused to initiate proceedings. They trusted my husband and his mother
who said that there were no longer any of my things in the apartment.
When it happened, my husband had already been under the order of
eviction. I could only sue in a civil court, but I couldn’t afford it. Why
is it the aggrieved party that must pay to seek justice – not those who
break the law! I always cry when I write about this. Nobody knows what
I went through. I can’t come to terms with this in justice, that I can’t en-
ter my own home there, I am still punished for it.
In court, when I asked to be exempted from court fees on grounds of
poverty, I was advised to find a wealthy sponsor and pay the fee. Re-
cently, for some months I couldn’t afford to buy glasses for my son. I was
deprived of welfare benefits and periodic free lunches for my children,
because our old Fiat was registered to my name, though it was actually
the property of my husband.
My parents pay for my lodgings, for the treatment of my son, for their
clothes and everything they need for school. Altogether, it must have
been about 8 000 zlotys. Only thanks to Urszula Nowakowska from the
Women’s Rights Centre my children have winter boots.
The divorce case dragged on for three years. My husband behaved
aggressively even in court. He was coming under the influence of al-
cohol but it did not bother the judge. However, the ruling was in my
favour. He was found to be at fault in the divorce, he was ordered to
leave our apartment and his parental authority was restricted. He ap-
pealed, and to my surprise, the Court of Appeal reversed the sentence
and found us jointly at fault for the dissolution of the marriage. His
mother testified that she had seen me with some man in the car which
convinced the court that I should also bear the blame.
My husband is still jobless. He regularly demolishes our apartment
and does not pay the rent, so we may soon be evicted. He doesn’t care
about the court rulings. He feels unpunishable. Meanwhile, I wander
with children from place to place, without money and without work.
I do not know how to give my children a sense of security and faith
in people. If there is justice, it might be in heaven; I am losing faith in
worldly justice.

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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
Andrzej Dominiczak
In March 1994, John Paul II, the Polish
pope, granted an audience to Ms. Nafis
Sadik, the then undersecretary of the UN
Conference on Population and Develop-
ment. They met to discuss the agenda for
the U.N. International Conference on Pop-
ulation and Development in Cairo. In an ar-
gument about the proposed recognition by
the United Nations of women’s unrestrict-
ed reproductive rights, the pope categori-
cally rejected the proposal: “In the field of
family planning individual rights are not
an issue. There are only the rights of mar-
ried couples!”1, bluntly stated the Pontiff.
Ms Sadik insisted that the matter had
to be addressed, as domestic violence
was on the rise and women often became
pregnant unwillingly. John Paul II burst
out angrily, “Don’t you think that the ir-
responsible behavior of men is caused by
women?”2
The Polish pope considered the family
as the sanctuary and the heart of the cul-
ture of life, which should be defended by
any means in the face of the West’s “cul-
1
Carl Bernstein, Marco Politi, Córy Ewy: Jan
Paweł II nie lubi kobiet, in: Andrzej Dominiczak,
Bez Miłosierdzia, Prometeusz, Warszawa, 2004,
p. 25.
2
Ibidem.
61
In defence
of the “sacred
family”: Polish
state against
women’s rights
ture of death”, which he saw as the ul-
timate expression of its profane evil. He
deplored liberal democracies, where peo-
ple, men and women, feel free and have
the right to choose whether they want to
have children, what type of lifestyles they
wish to pursue, or whether they want to
remain in an abusive marriage or seek
a divorce.
The pope’s views of the family and in-
dividual rights of its members were not
a  novelty. They had shaped oppressive,
patriarchal cultures for ages, but in Po-
land, where John Paul II is still a cult fig-
ure, they have played and still play a par-
ticularly pernicious role. The idea of the
“sacred family” endowed with supreme
rights has been delivered and preached
countless times in writing and orally by
the pope himself and by thousands of his
followers: preachers and teachers, ul-
tra-catholic politicians, judges, journal-
ists and moralists: in schools, in the par-
liament, in courts, in the media and from
the pulpits of the churches all over the
country. It has permeated our minds and
lives so deeply that today, having a family,
any family, is the main goal and the high-
est value declared by the majority of the
Polish people. Individual rights, personal
 I n d e f e n ce o f   t h e “s a c re d f a m i ly ” : Po l i s h s t ate a g a i n st women’s rights
 

liberty and fulfillment are mostly not tak- must be repetitive in order to be punished.
en into account. Moreover, law enforcement and criminal
justice officials do not generally treat do-
mestic violence seriously. The commen-
Familism and democracy tary to Article 207 indicates expressly
Poland differs from democratic states that it seeks to protect the family above all
in many ways, including the way it ad- else: individual rights to life, health, free-
heres to the principle of the rule of law and dom and bodily integrity are of only sec-
to other democratic and liberal principles. ondary concern. As one Łódź-based po-
The Polish state may respect the consti- lice officer reported, “the most important
tution, international treaties or domestic crimes are robbery, rape, murder and as-
laws on condition, however, that they are sault – certainly not domestic violence.”3
compatible with the so called social teach- A police officer in Warsaw agreed, remark-
ings of the Catholic Church. For this reason ing, “In Poland, if you rate domestic vio-
alone, in 2007, Poland opted out from the lence on a scale of one to ten with one be-
European Charter of Fundamental Rights, ing the most important and ten being the
as its full adoption might clear the way for least, it’s a ten.” Such attitudes, prevalent
gay and lesbian marriage equality. among many members of Polish society,
The laws protecting women’s rights, reflect the belief that a  crime committed
particularly those that can undermine between intimate partners is less serious
the “family collective”, seem to be equal- than the same crime committed between
ly reprehensible to God and his (or her?) unrelated persons.
local representatives, so in this field too, Some police officers reported being
the state, its institutions and agencies frustrated by domestic violence cases, as
give priority to the Catholic agenda. Typi- they rarely result in punishment for the
cal of this approach is the stand taken re- offender. This opinion is strongly support-
cently by a prosecutor in the case from the ed by a  number of studies which found
town of Chodel in southern Poland, where that although the number of cases of do-
a woman was murdered by her husband, mestic violence that have been reported
who had abused her for many years and to the police has significantly increased in
threatened to kill her on numerous occa- recent years, there is a  growing tenden-
sions. The man justified himself by ac- cy among the state prosecutors to refuse
cusing his wife of infidelity. Amazingly, it to instigate, or to discontinue, the crim-
proved to be a highly effective line of de- inal proceedings. Why? Under Article 17
fense. A local woman prosecutor, who had par. 1 (2)(3) of the Code of Criminal Pro-
taken up the case, ordered an examina- ceedings, “proceedings shall not be insti-
tion of the sample of the tissue from the tuted, or, if previously instituted, shall be
womb of the murdered woman to look for discontinued, when the act does not pos-
traces of other man’s sperm. “She was not sess the qualities of a prohibited act (…),
saintly!” – explained the prosecutor to the or when it causes minimal social harm.”4
mother of the victim.
3
Aberg, Kristina, Johanna Bond, Anne Daugh-
erty-Leiter, Jean Norton, Robin Phillips, and
Theory and practice Rachel Taylor. Domestic Violence in Poland.
In theory, domestic violence is classi- Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. 2002.
4
Beata Gruszczyńska, Przemoc wobec kobiet
fied as a criminal offense under Article 207 w  Polsce. Aspekty prawnokryminologiczne. Ofi-
of the Polish Penal Code, but the violence cyna a Wolters Kluver Business, Warsaw 2007.

62
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

In 2000, among 34 837 cases of mis-
treatment under Article 207, par. 1, the
prosecution was discontinued in 13 504
cases – in 90 percent of cases under Arti-
cle 17 par. 1(2) of the Code of Criminal Pro-
ceedings, which means that according to
prosecutors, there had been no grounds to
instigate the proceedings in the first place.
In 2005, the number of terminated cases
was even higher (about 50 percent) – 80
percent of them on the same grounds.5
Particularly disturbing was the increase
in the number of the cases dismissed un-
der Art. 207 par. 2 and 3, when the perpe-
trator acted with extreme cruelty, or when
the victim attempted suicide as a result of
the abuse. In 2000, they accounted for 28
percent of instigated cases, and in 2005 –
for 33 percent. One can assume that the
decisions to discontinue may be mostly
associated with the lack of sufficient evi-
dence, however, the experience of wom-
en’s rights advocates and the studies con-
ducted by the Women’s Rights Centre6 in-
dicate that the main reason is the wide-
spread neglect of the problem of domestic
violence and the tendency to blame wom-
en for the violence inflicted upon them.
Despite the fact that only the most se-
vere cases of violence end up in courts,
most judges seem to pursue a similar pol-
icy. They do not treat cases of domes-
tic violence seriously and impose little, if
any, punishment on convicted perpetra-
tors. Although the number of convictions
is growing, still about 90 percent of cases
which proceed to trial and end in a guilty
verdict result in suspended sentences.7
Even in cases of violence with extreme
cruelty, in one third of cases the judges
5
Ibidem.
6
Andrzej Dominiczak, Law enforcement officers’
and prosecutors’ attitudes towards domestic vio-
lence, Women’s Rights Center, Warsaw, 2000.
7
Beata Gruszczyńska, Przemoc wobec kobiet
w Polsce. Aspekty prawnokryminologiczne. Oficy-
na a Wolters Kluver Business, Warszawa 2007.
63
Andr zej D ominiczak  

give perpetrators suspended or minimal
sentences. In the case of convictions un-
der section 3 of Article 207 (when the vic-
tim attempts suicide as a result of abuse),
66 percent of perpetrators receive sus-
pended sentences.
In some cases, the courts interpret
Article 207 of the Penal Code to permit
a  man to abuse his wife, either to pre-
serve marriage or for the woman’s own
“well-being.” The Court of Appeals in
Krakow held the following:
Abuse may be recognized as commit-
ted through necessity imposed by the de-
sire to preserve marriage or justified by
the well-being of children or the alleged
victim or any other value protected by law
and more important than the dubious dig-
nity of misconducting victims. In such cir-
cumstances, even if violence amounts to
maltreatment, it may still be recognized
as not meeting the criteria of the offense
under Article 207. In such circumstanc-
es, it may be recommended that the ac-
cused should be acquitted of any charg-
es or that the penalty should not be im-
posed or that the victim should file a pri-
vate charge against the perpetrator.8
There are many more appalling court
rulings, not only in criminal proceedings.
Polish divorce laws, for example, have
been absurdly designed primarily to pre-
serve the family unit. Many women have
difficulty leaving their abusers and ob-
taining satisfactory divorce settlements.
In one case, a  woman was refused a  di-
vorce, as in a judge’s opinion, she did not
prove that there had been an “entire and
permanent breakdown of marital cohab-
itation”, which is required under Article
56 of the Polish Family and Guardianship
Code. The truth was that for a  number
of years, she was repeatedly raped by
her husband, who was convicted of this
8
Urszula Nowakowska, Domestic violence
against women and children, Report by the
Women’s Rights Centre, Warsaw 2000.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 I n d e f e n ce o f   t h e “s a c re d f a m i ly ” : Po l i s h s t ate a g a i n st women’s rights
 

charge and sentenced to two years in jail. In women’s hell the times are not
According to the family court, howev- changing
er, forced sexual relations combined with
threats and beatings constituted simply “The Women’s Hell” is the title of
a form of marital cohabitation. the collection of essays written by Ta-
In many other cases, women who are deusz Boy-Żeleński and published in Po-
granted divorce still live with their abu- land ten years before the Second World
sive husbands, as there is a serious short- War. Its author, an eminent Polish writ-
age of affordable apartments. This un- er, translator and medical doctor, touch-
fortunate situation often results in fur- ingly described the misery and sufferings
ther violence, or even in deaths of wom- of women, mostly impoverished women,
en. It should be noted that although the deprived of their reproductive rights. The
number of homicides in Poland has fallen book, although 80 years old, is amazing-
since 2000 by a  striking 40 percent, the ly timely, except that in the reborn, “dem-
proportion of homicides resulting from ocratic” Poland the “women’s hell” has
domestic violence (particularly the pro- been extended with a new circle, consid-
portion of uxoricides) rose from 26,6 per- ered to be, as in an Orwellian nightmare,
cent in 2000 to 32,5 percent in 2008.9 the family heaven. This new circle in hell
has been created by the Polish state for
women victims of violence suffered at the
hands of their partners and husbands, for
women whose rights and feelings are of
9
National Police Headquarters, Statistical data no concern to the blind defenders of im-
on homicide in Poland, http://www.policja.pl/
moral and inhumane dogmas.
portal/pol/4/44410/Zabojstwa.html

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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Małgorzata Dziewanowska
Viktoriya Khomuk
Liat Krawczyk
“The woman was seven months pregnant
[….] The beating started in the backseat
of the car after she had sex with her part-
ner. He pushed her to the back seat of a
very small Polish car where there was little
space. He punched her in the head, arms,
and belly. He pushed her on her stomach
with his knees. She managed to crawl out
of the car, but he got on top of her while she
was lying on her stomach on the ground.
He sat on her and jumped many times. She
managed to get home [and] called an am-
bulance to take her to the hospital. [.…]
During the sonogram, they saw that the
umbilical cord was broken and the fetal
heart was not beating. They did a cesar-
ean section, but the baby had died from se-
vere injuries. The baby had a broken skull,
bleeding inside its brain, and a swollen liv-
er [….] They needed to remove her uterus
[….] If not for the loss of her uterus, her in-
juries would not have qualified as serious.
The man was charged with assault and
with death of a child. He was sentenced to
two years in prison. The prosecutor asked
for ten years, but the additional eight years
were for the loss of the uterus (Domestic
Violence in Poland, 2002).
65
Airing the
dirty laundry:
exploring the
challenges
of domestic
violence
in Poland 1
Polish society is currently undergo-
ing dramatic political, economic, and so-
cial transition: from totalitarianism to de-
mocracy, from communism to capitalism,
and from a passive society to a civic one.
However, in the field of women’s rights,
both the current right-wing government
and the Catholic Church have been ex-
ceptionally rigid and conservative in their
view of women’s place in society. Indeed,
political and religious authorities often see
a woman’s role as serving the family enti-
ty as wife and mother, or as a mere repro-
ductive unit. The Polish woman has been
dangerously simplified and consequent-
ly deprived of many individual freedoms
and rights; indeed, policies concerning
them are presented primarily in the con-
text of the family (Mach: 2000). As a re-
sult of these attitudes, stories such as the
one presented above are not uncommon.
Domestic violence, the intentional use of
power over another family member while
1
Published with permission from Humanity In
Action – Poland.
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 Ai ri n g t h e d i r t y l a u n d r y : ex p l o ri n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f domestic violence in Poland
 

infringing upon their rights and/or caus- to the “… illegitimate, atheistic regime
ing them suffering and pain, is common in held in place by [the] foreign (communist)
Poland where in 2006 alone over 39,000 power” (Stoltenberg, 2) were simultane-
women reported such violence (Szulc: ously Catholic believers and dissident cit-
2007). Although there has been a move- izens. It is due to the stateless history of
ment to raise awareness about this prob- Poland as well as the collaboration of “re-
lem and to deal with it legally, the codifica- ligiosity and resistance”(Stoltenberg, 2) in
tion of domestic violence as a crime is all bringing about a democratic regime, that
too often undermined by the justice sys- ethnicity and religion became the two
tem’s failure to effectively enforce these most fundamental components of Polish
legal provisions. As such, in order to reach identity (Gebert: 2007). Even today, over
the roots of the problem one must look not 90 percent of Poles identify themselves as
only to the legal foundations set to deal Roman Catholic (Gruber: 1995).
with domestic violence, but to the social Also, because of Polish society’s an-
perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the tagonistic relationship with and distrust of
advancement of women’s rights. the communist regime, and because of Po-
land’s current unsteady state of transition,
many Poles still fail to believe in govern-
Polish Identity; a Historical
ment effectiveness; they look to social rules
Overview and approval in their everyday life from
In order to truly understand the roots other sources, namely, the Catholic Church.
of gender perception and gender politics
in Polish society, it is crucial to explore
Conserving Tradition: Defining
Polish history, namely, the formation of
Polish identity and values alongside, and Gender Roles
as a result of, the development of Polish After its prominent contribution to
nationalism. Poland’s transition into democracy, the
Geographically bordered by seven Church found a significant role in instill-
countries, including historically power- ing Roman Catholic values into the new
ful Germany and Russia, the Polish state social order. Indeed, religion classes are
was for centuries invaded, partitioned, taught in public schools, significant polit-
and dominated by absolutist and totalitar- ical changes such as the accession to the
ian powers. Since the struggle for a sover- European Union are consulted with church
eign Polish state was constant, Polish na- authorities, and social mores lay strongly
tionalism developed distinctly from that in religious doctrine. Thus, “The Catholic
of most Western European countries. Pri- Church in Poland has not only spread the
marily, nationalism formed in opposition system of Christian values — it has been
to the state rather than within it. Moreo- placed in Polish national structure. Be-
ver, the lack of a guaranteed state allowed cause of this the Church has been one of
encouraged the formation of a collective the most important actors in the Polish so-
identity through the Catholic Church. cio-political life and it has always exerted a
In times of communism, the church substantial influence on different fields of
served not only as a point of religious unifi- Pole’s life” (Dominiczak: 2002)
cation for the Polish people but also a form The primary influence of the Catho-
of political rebellion against the atheist lic Church on Polish society has been the
regime. Indeed, almost all those opposed widespread reverence of family and the

66
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Małgor zata Dziewanowska, Viktoriya Khomuk , Liat Krawcz yk
Polish-Catholic cultural construction of
gender. Indeed, as in most societies, much
of Polish society has internalized stereo-
typical views of the, “healthy woman” as
caretaker of the family. In her article, Ag-
nieszka Graff, a faculty member at War-
saw University, explains contemporary
Polish resistance to the re-negotiation of
gender roles as part of an attempt to cre-
ate a “consoling narrative about an order-
ly past [by restoring] order in the realm
Domestic violence – challenges
of gender relations” (Graff, 3). Conserv-
for polish society
ing traditional gender roles can be seen
as part of a greater means of forming a
collective identity in “an effort to dispel,
or contain, collective ambivalence and
anxiety concerning European integration
and globalization, and the resulting dimi-
nution of Poland’s autonomy as a nation-
state a mere decade and a half after this
autonomy was restored” (Graff, 3).
A nation is made up of collective no-
tions of what is “’natural’ and what is ‘cul-
tural’. Therefore, the acceptance and nat-
uralization of traditional gender ideolo-
gies “in the end, men are men and wom-
en are women.”(Graff, 9) has undercut the
aura of change and enhanced nationalism
by instilling a calming sense of timeless-
ness among so many transitions. Conse-
quently, the adherence of Polish women
to accepted traditional roles reinforces the
nation’s collective agreement and under-
standing of gender functions and respon-
sibilities; women become bearers of cul-
ture (Graff, 3).
An interesting phenomenon Graff
points to is the metaphoric representation
of Poland, the nation, as a suffering woman
who takes care of her male children while
her husband goes off to war. This two-di-
mensional portrayal of Poland as a con-
cerned mother limits the woman to a mere
symbolic image taking away from her com-
plex humanity (this can be seen in imag-
es 1-3, pg. 10). The metaphor of the Vir-
67
 

gin Mary as the ‘Queen of Poland’ further
stresses the selfless “Matka Polka” (Polish
Mother) who is admired for sacrificing her
desires for the needs of her family, whose
suffering is considered her strength (Graff,
A different chronology, 2). Again, women
are seen as self-sacrificing instruments
through which tradition can be retained
and a more stable society achieved.
Domestic violence is a serious problem
in Poland where surveys show that one in
six women has experienced violence at
the hands of her male partner (Domes-
tic Violence in Poland, 8: 2002). Percep-
tions of, and expectations from, wom-
en in Polish society have significant im-
plications for victims of domestic violence
as conservative tradition hinders wom-
en from recognizing, reporting, and seek-
ing help when they experience abuse. Ac-
cording to Urszula Nowakowska, director
of the Women’s Rights Center in Warsaw,
the expectation of women to fulfill house-
hold duties causes many women to see
their abuse as a result of their own failure
to comply with familial obligations.
As Nowakowska describes, when
women seek help at Christian-run organ-
izations, they are often encouraged to at-
tend family therapy along with the perpe-
trator. However, such therapy programs
are unsuccessful; women are frequent-
ly encouraged to change their behav-
ior and adjust to the situation by being
more “obedient”, rather than to seek sep-
aration. By failing to view the perpetra-
tor as responsible for violence, such pro-
grams contribute to the shifting of blame
to the victim. Often, especially in rural ar-
eas, neighbors, friends, and even family
view the victim as culpable for their own
abuse. These people refuse to publicly ad-
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 Ai ri n g t h e d i r t y l a u n d r y : ex p l o ri n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f domestic violence in Poland
 

mit domestic violence as they see it as a harder to access than family courts. Like-
reflection of the woman’s failure to fulfill wise, according to Ms. Zientara, a lawyer
household obligations rather than a crime at The Committee for Protection of Child’s
that must be tried and condemned. Fur- Rights, some church-supported legal in-
thermore, Nowakowska explains, Church stitutions, such as the Law Clinic at Colle-
run programs stress that abusive men gium Iuridicum that provides free advice
cannot control their own behavior. How- for victims of violence, require volunteers
ever, men’s lack of violence outside of the to sign papers forbidding them to advise
home show that they are capable of con- divorce as a solution as this goes against
trolling themselves, but are unwilling to Christian values. As a result, many wom-
do so, or think their actions at home are en, especially those in rural communities
justified. have very little possibilities of obtaining
Nowakowska states, “another miscon- a divorce (Domestic Violence in Poland,
ception in Polish society about the caus- 27: 2002). Also, in many cases women
es of domestic violence is the association are psychologically, emotionally, and eco-
of such acts with poverty or alcoholism nomically dependent on their husbands,
rather than a power-related act. In real- making it almost impossible to file for di-
ity, abused women come from all facets vorce (Platek: 2007).
of life regardless of marital status, occu- Notably, in Poland there seems to be
pation, education level, and economic sit- a distinct separation between the private
uation”. Partly contributing to this fallacy (home) sphere and public sphere. This
is the government’s response to domes- separation is partly a product of commu-
tic violence through the State Agency for nist times where the family sphere was
Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems. the least penetrable place for the state
However, basing “policies and programs (Gebert: 2007). The notion of “the family
on the premise that alcoholism causes do- [as] a self-contained unit, deserving pri-
mestic violence […] contradicts interna- vacy at the expense of other rights and
tional research showing that, although al- freedoms” (Domestic Violence in Poland,
cohol may be a contributing factor to do- 23: 2002) is especially dangerous for vic-
mestic violence, it is not the cause” (Do- tims of domestic violence. Women who
mestic Violence in Poland, 9: 2002). As a are victims of domestic violence are ex-
result, women who do not come from al- pected to “bear their cross” or as Poles
coholic families don’t know where to look would say “not wash their dirty laundry
for help, as they do not see alcohol-relat- in public”, leaving family issues private.
ed problems as applying to them.
The Catholic Church also plays an im-
Reacting to domestic violence 
portant role in the way women choose to
respond to violence. Since marriage is Despite its reluctance in re-defining
seen as an unbreakable bond, the option gender roles, the Polish government has
of leaving abusive husbands is unaccept- taken measures to address domestic vio-
able (unless the woman’s life is at risk, in lence, recognizing it as a criminal offense
which case Church law allows for separa- under criminal code article 207. However,
tion, although not divorce) (Priest Chudzik: it seems that despite significant improve-
2007). Obstacles to divorce are aggravat- ments in legislation for dealing with do-
ed by the law as divorce cases have been mestic violence, the government is still
assigned to higher-level courts, which are hesitant to take large steps towards recog-

68
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Małgor zata Dziewanowska, Viktoriya Khomuk , Liat Krawcz yk
nizing, dealing with, and condemning do-
mestic abuse. For one, government pros-
ecutors do not consider isolated instances
of abuse as domestic violence. In the case
that a woman wants to file a report after
a single severe incident (the deprivation,
or serious crippling of critical bodily func-
tions), her abuse will be publicly prosecut-
ed as a crime against the individual. How-
ever, if the single incident is not severe,
the prosecution will only be pursued when
initiated by the victim (Zientara: 2007).
In reality though, women who experience
single abusive incidents are often unaware
of their legal options and find the legal
process confusing and frustrating, usually
choosing not to prosecute (Nowakowska).  24-48 hours and the perpetrator can soon
Of the most critical actors responsible
for dealing with domestic violence are po-
lice authorities as they are often the first
to interact with the victim after abuse is
reported. Under law there are a number
of procedures police have to follow in cas-
es of domestic violence. As Commander
Iwona Szulc from Police Headquarter ex-
plains, principally, police are required to
check the homes from which they receive
reports, to validate the call, and then to
determine the type and severity of the
crime. If the incident is an act of violence
within the family, police authorities fill out
a “blue card”, a card containing informa-
tion about the occurrence along with wit-
ness data; a sheet explaining domestic vi-
olence as well as emergency information
is left for the victim. These ‘blue cards’
are designed to “standardize the proce-
dure for police interaction with families
experiencing domestic violence” (Domes-
tic Violence in Poland, 31: 2002). Cards
are then sent to the local precinct and
must be followed by a visit to the home by
police within a week to assure that the vi-
olence hasn’t continued. Although these
follow-ups are mandatory, such visits do
not always occur; they are often consid-
69
 

ered “impractical, because police are too
busy to check in with families that report
abuse” (Domestic Violence in Poland, 31:
2002). Moreover, according to Ms. Nowa-
kowska, since some police officers see do-
mestic violence as a family issue, they will
use any hesitation on part of the woman
to prosecute, as an excuse to poorly inves-
tigate the issue and dismiss the case.
In terms of dealing with the immedi-
ate family situation, it is only in very seri-
ous cases- when the perpetrator is violent
to the police, in front of the police, or un-
der the clear influence of alcohol, that the
police are allowed to arrest the man; how-
ever, confinement can only last between
return home. This inefficient dealing may
discourage women from reporting inci-
dents of violence for fear of retribution.
Another provision recently added to
the law is the right to file a restraining
order after incidents of domestic violence
(Zientara: 2007). However, these orders
can only be filed if the perpetrator is un-
der arrest, in which case he is given the
option of leaving his home or continuing
arrest. In actuality though, most prosecu-
tors don’t understand the importance of
temporary detainment thus making sep-
aration of victim and perpetrator rare;
again, the victim often experiences more
violent attacks.
Women who are victims of domestic
violence are also advised to conduct an
evidentiary medical examination. Foren-
sic doctors who provide documentation
of women’s injuries in domestic violence
cases often doubt the ‘credibility’ of the
wounds and believe the injuries are self-
inflicted as to receive favorable divorce
settlements (Domestic Violence in Poland,
9: 2002).
According to Ms. Nowakowska, a criti-
cal reason domestic violence has not been
dealt with efficiently enough is the clas-
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 Ai ri n g t h e d i r t y l a u n d r y : ex p l o ri n g t h e c h a l l e n g e s o f domestic violence in Poland
 

sification of domestic violence as a crime mestic violence a private issue. Moreover,

against the family, a collective unit rath- laws addressing such abuse are often inef-
er than a crime against the individual; the fective, as they are not taken seriously by
choice to prioritize family over the indi- both enforcement agencies and the wid-
vidual shows the influence of the Catholic er society. Although there has been some
Church on public policy. In addition, so- shift towards addressing the problems
ciety fails to see domestic violence as a of domestic violence, stronger measures
gender issue despite the fact that wom- must be taken to provide a system of shel-
en are the ones most affected by this type ters and legal advice for women. Improve-
of abuse; women are seen as part of a ments can include greater dissemination
greater family unit rather than an entity of information and education for the wider
in and of themselves. Prosecuting domes- public regarding domestic violence, in or-
tic violence as a crime against the indi- der to make preventive and reactive acts
vidual could endanger Catholic principles more effective. Domestic violence educa-
regarding gender and family structures tion and training programs should be ex-
as it could lead to the breakup of fami- tended and expanded for police, prosecu-
ly. However, classification of domestic vi- tors, doctors, and judges. Also, legal in-
olence as a family violation has led to ex- stitutions should be more adamant in en-
tremely hazardous verdicts in court. In- forcing the penal code and prosecuting
deed in 1997, a judge in a domestic vio- domestic violence offenders in order to
lence case stated that domestic violence provide an exemplar for the political proc-
is not verbal abuse or even physical vio- esses of democratization and justice.
lence if it is for the ‘good of the family’;
the victim provoked the abuse by ‘behav-
Sources:
ing badly’ in her home. Similar judgments
• Aberg, Kristina, Johanna Bond, Anne Daugherty-
were repeated again in 2000 and 2005.
Leiter, Jean Norton, Robin Phillips, and Rachel
Such verdicts highlight the danger of in- • Taylor. Domestic Violence in Poland. Minnesota Ad-
corporating traditional values of the Cath- vocates for Human Rights. 2002. 27 June 2007.
olic Church into law and their clash with • Dominiczak, Andrzej. “Church and State in Post-
Communist Poland.” 1 Nov. 2002. Polish Human-
democratic principles. ist Federation. 27 June 2007 <http://www.iheu.org/
node/1124>.
• Graff, Agnieszka. “A Different Chronology: Reflec-
Conclusion tions on Feminism in Contemporary Poland.”
• Third Wave Feminism: a Critical Exploration. Comp.
Domestic violence is a serious prob- Stacy Gillis and Gillian Howre. 142-155.
lem affecting thousands of women in Po- • Graff, Agnieszka. “The Land of Real Men and Real
Women: Gender and EU Accession in Three Polish
land today. In exploring the roots of such Weeklies.” 26 June 2007.
violence in Polish society various issues • Gruber, Ruth E. “Poles Foresake Catholic Church,
arise. Most prominently, given the turbu- Seek Western Democratic Values.” 1995. 26 June
2007 <http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0- /mod-
lent past of the Polish people, social trust ule/displaystory/story_id/2473/edition_id/41/format/
has turned to nationalist and Catholic val- html/displaystory.html>.
ues and institutions. Although national- • Mach, Zdzisław. „The Roman Catholic Church in Po-
land and the Dynamics of Social Identity in Polish
ist and religious morals are meant to re- • Society.” 2000. Centre for European Studies. 24
inforce a united society, insistence on tra- June 2007 <http://www.ces.uj.edu.pl/mach/church.
ditional gender roles is often detrimental htm>.
• Stoltenberg, Steven. “Religious Identities in Post-
to women, especially victims of domestic Communist Central Europe: the Polish Case.” 27
abuse. Women are expected to keep do- June 2007.

70
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Justyna Podlewska
There may be laws in a courtroom,
but there is no justice.
For the first time in my career as a do-
mestic lawyer, and I have been working in
the field of family and custody law for six
years, I had the opportunity to witness the
regional court in all its glory, state that vi-
olence and marital rape is an acceptable
form of coexistence between spouses.
But let’s start from the beginning.
Mrs. J. has been married to Mr. J for the
past 25 years. Like so many other wom-
en in Poland she has had to put up with
verbal and physical abuse, lack of assist-
ance in raising her children, lack of finan-
cial assistance concerning household ex-
penses and her husband’s ongoing affairs,
while being forced to perform her duties
as a wife. Despite this, Mrs. J. remained
married to her husband, at the begin-
ning probably for the welfare of her chil-
dren, but later, when her husband had al-
71
Sanctioned
rape
ready left her and their family, she stayed
married just for the sake of peace. How-
ever, Mr. J., no longer comfortable in his
marriage and unsatisfied with his present
family, decided to start a new one with a
girlfriend from work. As a law-abiding cit-
izen, he applied to the court to obtain a di-
vorce. Mrs. J., trusting justice with clear
evidence of her husband’s guilt, agreed to
the divorce, but with the fault on the hus-
band’s side. Her arguments where sol-
id. She reasoned that he had mistreated
her all those years, and he was the one
who had left to be with another woman.
This was the exact argument she used in
response to the petition for divorce. She
thought that having evidence was enough
and the rest would be taken care of in a
fair and independent court of law. Mrs.
J. presented evidence in the form of wit-
ness testimonies, from which emerged a
dramatic story of what she had endured
all through the many years of being mar-
ried to her husband. Since the very begin-
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 S a n c t i o n e d ra p e
 
ning Mr. J had behaved aggressively, had
verbally and physically abused his wife,
had denied her freedom by locking her in
a room and had forced her to have sexu-
al intercourse with him. One of her adult
sons testified:
“Since I can remember, there were al-
ways fights and shouting in our house,
usually initiated by my father. When my
father is home, my mother sleeps in the
kitchen. On more than one occasion, I
heard him beating my mother in bed. To-
wards us, his attitude was always indif-
ferent. At one time, he started to beat my
brother with the metal tube of the vacu-
um cleaner.”
The second son said: ”I heard screams
coming from by parent’s bedroom. I tried
to sleep. Usually, it was my father who
was yelling”.
To fill the picture of their family life,
it was stated that Mr. J. did not support
his family financially. He was obsessive-
ly mean with money. The weight of finan-
cial responsibility always rested on Mrs. J.
shoulders, until she appeared at the fam-
ily court for alimony, which was granted.
Throughout the duration of the marriage,
Mr. J. always accused his wife of being too
carefree with money. A witness testified
that: “When our parents asked, why he
thought the defendant was being waste-
ful and extravagant with money, he an-
swered, that she bought oilcloths”. An-
other witness stated:” On more than one
occasion the plaintiff behaved aggressive-
ly. Usually it was about minor issues”,
and-” Twice I saw bruises on her face”.
The documentation of the divorce pro-
ceedings is full of similar testimonies. In
light of the Family and Guardianship Code,
which clearly defines the spouses’ respon-
sibilities and conditions for divorce, the
verdict in this case seemed obvious.
Article 23 in the Family and Guard-
ianship Code states that spouses have
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
equal rights and responsibilities in a mar-
riage. They are required to cohabitate, of-
fer mutual support, loyalty and coopera-
tion for the good of the family, which they
have founded by their union. Article 27
adds that both spouses are responsible for
generating income and accumulating as-
sets, to contribute to meeting the needs
of their family. One can be relieved of this
requirement in whole or in part, on the
condition of ongoing personal efforts re-
lated to the upbringing of the children
and duties in the common household. In
the divorce file there is evidence, which
clearly indicates, that in marriage Mr. J.
failed to fulfill any of these obligations. It
seemed certain that a decision would be
made to dissolve marriage by divorce due
to the fault of the husband.
Nothing could be further from
the truth.
In this case, however, the court ren-
dered a decision to dissolve marriage by
divorce due to the fault of both parties.
Although at the time of this decision, the
plaintiff had no longer been living at home
for several years, had left his family and
was in a relationship with another woman,
the court granted him exclusive use of one
of the rooms in the formal common house-
hold. The reasoning of the judgment was:
“It can not be assumed that the plaintiff
left the house, although he admitted that
the time he spends in it is rare. Howev-
er, it’s still a central area in his life”. The
result of the court’s decision is that Mrs.
J. uses the second room, while both adult
sons share the third room. Mr. J. will cer-
tainly not move back home, but accord-
ing to the ruling of the court, he can keep
his room locked and effectively prevent
the rest of the family from using it. The
only way to change this situation would
be a costly case of dividing the property,
72

which Mrs. J. can not afford. Surprised by
the court’s decision, Mrs. J. appealed for a
justification of the verdict. Her indignation
knew no bounds when she read the court’s
clarification, in which the court only gave
credence to testimonies of the plaintiff
and his witnesses. Based on the testimo-
ny of Mr. J., in which he stated that he took
his children on a holiday when they were
small, the court established that the plain-
tiff took care of their upbringing. The fact
that he didn’t support them financially was
treated as prudent management of mon-
ey. The decision to put a wardrobe in an
empty and unfurnished room by the de-
fendant was seen as a need for luxury. The
court even got concerned about the suffer-
ing of the plaintiff, stating that he was ”in-
secure and withdrawn”. It claimed that the
defendant harmed the plaintiff by spend-
ing holidays with her family: “The claim-
ant felt unhappy there and when his wife’s
family visited, he locked himself in his
room”. The court didn’t take into account
the physical violence used by the claimant
toward the defendant, wholly disregarding
the testimonies of the witnesses. It con-
cluded that in order to determine which of
the spouses was responsible for the break-
down of the marriage, it didn’t matter
which of them bore a larger or lesser guilt.
In the eyes of the court, even a small fault
of the defendant was equivalent to the hu-
miliation and beatings she suffered from
her husbands’ part.
Moreover, despite Mrs. J’s. evidence
and the testimonies of her witnesses, who
clearly stated that the plaintiff forced Mrs.
J. to have sexual intercourse, the Court
held: “In this case the court believes the
testimony of the plaintiff, not the de-
fendant .If the intimacy and coexistence
of the spouses had been as good, as the
defendant states, the plaintiff would not
have had to use violence and other as-
pects of their marriage would have been
73
J ust yna Podlewska  

better. Failure to fulfill one spouse’s ob-
ligations toward the other spouse does
not entitle the other spouse the evasion
of his/her obligations”. The court justi-
fied the plaintiff’s affair by stating that
the breakdown of the marriage happened
at some point prior to that event there-
fore did not consider it as evidence of
sole fault of the plaintiff. It was an excep-
tionally biased outcome, especially in the
context of the earlier statements of the
Court, that failure to fulfill spousal obli-
gations, does not entitle either of them
to avoid his or her obligations. The court
shouldn’t have considered the plaintiff re-
lieved of his obligation to remain faithful
to his wife due to the lack of voluntary in-
tercourse between them. His extramarital
affair should therefore be regarded as the
reason for which their marriage fell apart.
Mrs. J. did not agree with the ruling of the
regional court in Wrocław and decided to
appeal. The Court of Appeals dismissed
it. In its short substantiation of the ver-
dict, the Court stated that it agreed with
the findings of the regional court and con-
sidered it’s arguments appropriate: “The
court declared a fair conclusion, that if
the physical and intimate coexistence of
the spouse had been as satisfying as the
defendant stated, the plaintiff would not
have resorted to violence, and other are-
as of their marriage would also have func-
tioned in a better way”. Mrs. J. is left with
the satisfaction that the Court of Appeals,
as opposed to the Court of First Instance,
held the husband culpable of forcing in-
tercourse on his wife.
Such rulings justified by the courts,
both in the I and II instances, should not
take place in a state under the rule of law.
There is no justification for the courts to
accept physical and sexual violence in a
marriage. In this case, the old saying that
“there may be laws in a courtroom, but
there is no justice”, is entirely appropriate.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Danuta Duch
In a  relationship where there is a  traditional
division of roles, women are usually econom-
ically dependent on men. Working outside the
house and raising financial resources allows
men to maintain the status of the head of the
family. Does that mean that work and having
their own money would strengthen women’s au-
tonomy and liberate them from their husband’s
authority?
The results of a study on women who
have experienced violence in intimate
relationships show that money doesn’t
give women power in the family.1 When
a  man manages the household’s money,
it strengthens his position and power in
the family. When women do not work and
do not have their own financial resources,
and their social contacts outside the fam-
1
This article presents some of the results of
a  study that was conducted by the Women’s
Rights Center on a group of women who expe-
rienced violence from their husbands or part-
ners. It was part of the project “Work and digni-
fied life for women victims of violence” by the
EQUAL Community Initiative. The full study
report is in the publication of a summary of the
project “Wybieram życie”.
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Money and
power in the
family
ily are largely limited, they feel strong-
ly dependent on their husbands and are
more likely to submit to their will. This is
how a woman inactive professionally por-
trayed it: “I  was dependent on him. You
can imagine, I had to stay at home and be
quiet. I was not allowed to speak out loud.
When I  placed a  cup in the wrong way,
I had to place it again properly. I got beat-
en for any little excuse. God!”
It is harder for women who don’t work
to leave their husbands. They are afraid
of what the future will bring them, how
they will manage, where they will go, how
they will survive. It’s probably not a coin-
cidence that all the interviewed women
who had killed their husbands didn’t work
(either for health reasons, or because of
children, or because their husbands had
forbidden them to work), and still didn’t
leave their husbands even though they
were victims of violence. Many wom-
en who experience violence in relation-
ships do not work professionally, others

are forced to resign from work after child-
birth – the husband wants his family to
be traditional, he’s pathologically jealous
and doesn’t want his wife spending time
outside the house and beyond his control.
One woman said: “I  have never worked
because my partner claimed that a wom-
an’s place is at home. Besides, he was
a little jealous”. Another woman’s partner
said that she doesn’t have to work, be-
cause he earns enough. Men don’t want
their wives working even if they are un-
able to earn a living. One of the women,
after her husband lost his job, worked six
months at McDonald’s, but gave up, be-
cause her husband insisted: “I  will nev-
er work, because he is terribly jealous.
I  can’t even go out alone sometimes. He
rebuked me for working too long. He de-
manded that I should work no more than
4 or 5 hours .We had the same fight every
day and if he had something to drink it got
even worse. It was awful, unbearable”.
Men resort to all kind of different
things, just to prevent their women from
working. One woman said: “My husband
damaged the door lock on purpose. The
job offer I  received had to be respond-
ed to immediately”. She lost the job, and
didn’t seek another, because she knew
that, sooner or later, she would not be
able to perform her professional duties.
For the same reason she didn’t start any
course, even if it was free of charge, be-
cause eventually she would have to stop
attending because he wouldn’t let her.
Another woman, who asked her husband
to help her find a job said: “He started be-
ing grumpy, complained and claimed that
I  wouldn’t like it and he simply wouldn’t
help me”, despite the financial prob-
lems we had”. During a  group discus-
sion, women confirmed that their hus-
bands, who were violent with them, dis-
couraged them from working outside
the house. When a woman doesn’t work,
75
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
she is constantly criticized: “You have no
skills, if anyone hires you, it will be their
loss (..). You can’t do it, you can’t do an-
ything. It’s better that you stay at home,
I  will support you”. If a  woman decides
to take a  job, she hears: “With what you
earn, it’s better that you stay at home”.
It’s a vicious circle.
If you can’t make yourself feel better
than her, make her feel worse than you.
This is an old, simple rule that allows your
lives to feel even. This strategy is obvi-
ous in the story of a woman who was pro-
fessionally successful. Her achievements
were accompanied by her husband’s ag-
gressive comments the whole time: “You
have money, contacts, you’re a  whore,
a stupid idiot, sleeping around, you’re hy-
per-ambitious, you earn degree after de-
gree, you’re an obsessively suspicious
mother”. The man spied on her: “He fol-
lowed me, checked my phone, corre-
spondence, it was awful”.
The same was true for another fami-
ly. The husband ridiculed his wife’s pro-
fessional aspirations. When the woman
turned out to be successful, hhe started
to compare her profession to the work of
a  courtesan, who is always ready for the
client, regardless of the season, time, etc.
Another woman, who ran a  compa-
ny with her husband, complained that he
constantly criticized her work: “He au-
tomatically assumed that if something
wasn’t right, it must be my fault”. He
didn’t listen to her opinions, and any de-
cisions that he made were influenced by
other people. Also, he didn’t always check
everything to the end, which led to mak-
ing wrong decisions.
The fact that professional success can
be frustrating for the man is known even
in the context of media interest in wom-
en who earn much more than their hus-
bands. The question is always the same-
what do their husbands say to that? Em-
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 M o n e y a n d p owe r i n t h e f a m i ly
 
pirical findings present statements of
women that say that men badly tolerate
their wives’ professional success, espe-
cially if they are highly visible and can-
not be concealed. Women who have ”out-
grown” their husbands professionally, re-
alize that this situation may be uncom-
fortable for men. They deliberately reduce
their achievements and support their hus-
band’s professional activities, so he has
the feeling of success. The standard, in
which the career of her husband should
be more important for his wife than her
own, has become a  reason for which
women sacrifice their careers in order
to save their marriage. One woman said:
“I thought my husband would feel better
if I stopped earning so much. I took a job
that would be less stressful for my hus-
band, so I  wouldn’t’ be such a  threat to
him”. Throughout her career this relation-
ship was tainted by violence. The violence
became worse once she showed signs of
“weakness”. She wanted to save her mar-
riage and curtailed the development of
her company. The woman had her hus-
band’s best interests at heart and want-
ed him to have a satisfying career, so she
set up a  small family business – a  trad-
ing and service company. After a  period
of several years of running a  successful
business, she resigned and left the com-
pany to her husband. What’s important
here is her motive: she wanted her hus-
band to feel professionally successful. “It
became a  one-man enterprise, registered
in my husband’s name. Because I was al-
ways the more inspired person, and the
one who had higher income, now in my
mind he could finally exist independently”.
The story told by this woman shows
the rising frustration and aggression of
her husband with the development of her
professional career. At the time when he
took over, the company had a large turno-
ver. The man started to feel overconfident
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
about what he was doing, “Had stopped
listening to my opinion, my experience”,
and his risky decisions soon led to a loss of
liquidity. It was a serious blow to his am-
bition. The woman began to look for some
means to support the family. It start-
ed with the negation of everything she
did, and it was a prelude to physical vio-
lence. When the husband could no long-
er deny that she was doing well at work
as a insurance agent, had a high income,
was well liked and good at her job, that’s
when the drama began – insults, putting
down her achievements, fights, physical
violence. The violence against reached
a peak after her promotion to a new job.
Men try to control the financial re-
sources of the family and make decisions
about these issues. Every penny of her in-
come had to be shown to her husband,
“Who checked, counted and even was ca-
pable of calling my boss to ask how much
I earned. Even when I worked at McDon-
alds, I had to show him the exact amount
I earned. It was awful”. Extreme forms of
control at work were also experienced by
a  woman who worked as a  financial ad-
visor: “I  was observed all the time, ei-
ther by him or his friends. Someone was
always coming to pick up money from
me, every day, even once I was forced to
steal from the company and was left with
one day to find the money so I could pay
them back. I  lived in constant pressure,
intimidation. Many times I  tried to run
but could not. At home, he tortured me
terribly for everything”. That, however,
was not the end. She was forced to sign
a number of loans, all of which were spent
by her partner. When she finally left him,
she was left with many financial obliga-
tions. Similarly, another woman was left
with loans to repay because of her hus-
band: “He took loans that I’m paying off
until this day. It was simply just my stu-
pidity. I don’t know”.

When spouses work together in the
company of the husband, he deals with
the finances. Finances are also the re-
sponsibility of the man when they work
together, even if the company is the wom-
an’s: “My husband, for example, has al-
ways dealt with the paperwork, the taxes,
and payments. It’s something I was never
interested in. I had my part, and the other
things were alien to me”. This way of run-
ning a company, where the husband is the
one who deals with the public and other
institutions, reflects the division of family
roles. When it comes to managing a big-
ger amount of joint money, the man takes
care of it, regardless of who contributed
to the acquisition of the money. The hus-
band cut off his wife from the joint financ-
es: “Whenever I wanted to use our bank-
ing account he said that we do not have
any money in it, and in general I  should
have an account that I  should be taking
money from, and he should have his”. In
the course of the divorce case, it turned
out that her husband had closed their ac-
counts and opened new ones, which she
knew nothing about. Most of the mon-
ey was transferred to the new accounts
when she asked for a divorce.
Men care about their material safe-
ty throughout the relationship. When it
comes to a  divorce, it often appears that
they are the formal owners of the many
things that have been acquired during the
marriage. For example, one marriage last-
ed for 20 years, but when it came to con-
flict and violence: “My husband began to
say that actually I  did not have anything,
that everything that we both worked for is
his”. The woman said that she never really
made sure that the many things that they
bought were in both their names. He was
the person who took care of everything
and he made sure he put it his name.
Women spend the money they earn on
everyday needs, but the man has his own
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resources which he spends as he wants.
A  woman said: “He completely stopped
helping with household expenses. We had
loans to pay off, everything was on my
shoulders”. She felt that the things they
had acquired during their life didn’t real-
ly belong to both of them, since she was
the one who had worked for them, he con-
tributed in no way: “He argued with me,
demanded money and did exactly as he
wanted”.
What is work for women who
experience violence?
For many women professional activ-
ity is a  very important part of life. It is
in work that – more or less consciously
– they seek fulfilment. Many women can
not imagine their lives without work. One
of them said, “Starting my own business
gave me freedom, the sense of fulfilment
and some money”. She gave up running
a  company because her husband wished
her to do so, but she started to work as
a volunteer. She said, “I can’t live without
a job. It is not about earning money. An-
other woman, who ran her husband’s ca-
tering company, said, “I like this work and
fulfil myself in this way. I hope I will con-
tinue working for this company.
Women often regard work as an asy-
lum and refuge from domestic violence.
One woman who runs her own compa-
ny said: “I am a workaholic, I calm down
while working and it is at work where
I find salvation. This is my escape. “I sim-
ply must be doing something constantly.”
Work brought relief to the problems of an-
other woman who works as hair stylist: “It
was a  pleasure going to work, was com-
ing to work with pleasure, although I had
loads of work to do. . It was nice to have
a word with a client about this or that.”
Women who occupy less responsi-
ble positions also like their jobs. For ex-
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 M o n e y a n d p owe r i n t h e f a m i ly
 
ample, one seamstress said, “I like work-
ing in my sewing room.” Another woman
reported that, even when she was beaten
up, she didn’t take sick leave, because she
preferred to go to work to get away from
home. When she returned to work after
maternity parental leave, she felt blessed.
She said, “On the one hand, it was a  re-
lief that I wouldn’t have to spend so much
time with them (my husband and in-laws),
on the other hand, however, our child still
needed much help.
Work is often a  factor that protects
women against the loss of control over
their own lives and the basis on which
they build their strength and self-esteem.
29-year-old seamstress, who was brought
up in athe pathological family told us, “My
parents and later also my husband abused
alcohol. As far as I remember, there were
quarrels and beatings. One day, I met this
gentleman, quite by accident, who gave
me this job with stockings. I  was real-
ly good at it, so I  started to believe that
I am not worthless. If it wasn’t for this job,
I would still be coy and insecure.
Violence suffered by women has often
a  negative impact on their work. Stress,
irritability, fatigue, poor concentration,
the lack of confidence and resulting lower
efficiency and numerous sick leaves may
lead to dismissal from work. Sometimes,
women’s worsening health may lead to
the loss of her ability to work and result-
ing retirement.
While this may sound somewhat para-
doxical, in some cases, difficult family sit-
uation may prove beneficial to women’s
professional career. This hypothesis was
confirmed by the members of a women’s
discussion group who have come to the
conclusion that a woman can make a care-
rier, either when she has a very good and
supportive husband, or when she escapes
from an abusive man. So, it is the work-
place where she finds refuge, and a strong
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
involvement in work is a kind of “defence
strategy”. Psychological violence faced by
women in the home (continuous “criti-
cism” as it was gently put by one of the
respondents) may motivate them to cope
in the labour market. Women, as if in de-
fiance of what their partners say, want to
prove to themselves that they are wor-
thy of respect. Their professional success
serves as a  counterweight to family fail-
ures. This pushes them into further train-
ing and encourages to face new profes-
sional challenges.
One of our respondents is exactly in
this situation. She has made a  brilliant
career despite very serious family prob-
lems. She said, “I  am a  first class spe-
cialist doctor, I  have completed all pos-
sible levels of professional education and
I  earn quite well. I  have adult children
and I am getting divorced.” Although she
still lives with her husband, who keeps
harassing her, and the divorce proceed-
ings have been protracted for a year and
a  half, her career flourishes. She set up
her own company. “Professionally, I  am
doing much better now. I  am more in-
dependent, I  have a  car, I’m flexible and
I earn better.”
Violence in the relationship seems to
increase with the development of wom-
en’s careers, which eventually leads to
break-up. However, when the level of vi-
olence and stress is too high, the career
collapses. One of the women decided to
reduce her working time in order to save
her marriage. Another woman resigned
from the managerial, well paid position
and took up a  new, badly paid job that
gives her more time to protect children
from her former husband, with whom
she still shares an apartment. Yet anoth-
er woman resigned from managerial po-
sition due to depression: “I  gave up be-
cause I  felt that my work may be affect-
ed by my doldrums”. Sometimes, wom-

en experiencing domestic violence, main-
tain high-level positions, but they pay
high price for this: “I had a very respon-
sible job which I  have retained, so I  had
to be able to make difficult decisions, to
be clear minded and flexible. Unfortu-
nately, because of my husband’s aggres-
sive behaviour, I often came tired, sleepy
and upset. I could not concentrate on my
work, as I was too concerned about what
was happening at home. It did not help at
all. When violence is extreme and results
in women’s health problems (depression,
racked nerves or psychosomatic disor-
ders) just holding down a  job should be
considered a success.
Does a good job help women solve
domestic problems?
Again, paradoxically, a number of sto-
ries show that good work and independ-
ent means of support leadconduce women
to preserve violent relationships. For ex-
ample, a 52-years-old woman aint a man-
agerial position, the victim of physical and
psychological violence at the hands of the
alcoholic husband, who obtained 10 fo-
rensic certificates, remained with him for
over 20 years to save him. She excused
his abusive behaviour on account of with
his difficult childhood. His abuse of alco-
hol was just a disease for her and he was
a  man who deserved support and assist-
ance. . Another woman, 50 years old, in
aat managerial position and the victim of
physical or violence with two adult chil-
dren, remained in a  violent relationship
for more than 20 years. Yet another wom-
an, a bit younger (38 years old) owner of
athe company, has remaineds in abusive
relationship for 20 years.
Women who live in violent relation-
ships compensate for recompense their
unhappy family lives with profession-
al success. Good income allows them to
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meet the needs of the family, even if their
husbands do not deliver to the household
budget. Most of them once loved their
husbands and wanted to save their mar-
riages husband at any cost. On the other
hand, in many cases it is good work and
financial independence that helps women
to leave a  violent husband. If the a  hus-
band becomes more and more demand-
ing and more violent, there might come
a a time when at one time a woman says
“enough”. One woman said, “One day,
I  said, that’s enough! I  am a  human be-
ing and I deserve respect. At some point,
thanks to the successful career, I realised
that there was simply too much disparity
between those who respected and appre-
ciated me and the man who kept humili-
ating me more and more painfully. Even-
tually, I opened my eyes and saw the true
face of the man I once deeply loved.
Patterns of femininity and
education
Cultural ideals of men and wom-
en shape the relations between the gen-
ders and the ways they function in rela-
tionships. Deeply rooted beliefves that
what woman values most are the roles of
wife and mother, that it is a  wife’s duty
to sacrifice for the family, that the hus-
band is mainly responsible for family in-
come and that children should have a fa-
ther and a mother, make even independ-
ent, professional women easy victims of
violence at the hands of their husbands.
The Ssocially imprinted model of woman-
hood with its role of a woman as the fam-
ily guardian who takes care of everything,
makes women forget about themselves:
“Unfortunately, we are raised and edu-
cated in a culture which values the family
and endows the husband with authority in
the family. So, my husband entrusted me
with the role of an unpaid kitchen maid.
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 M o n e y a n d p owe r i n t h e f a m i ly
 
For many years, I really tried to clean and
wash up perfectly. I was convinced that if
I  didn’t see to things, everything would
collapse. I was raised this way. It was only
natural to me that I  should give up my
own ambitions and aspirations. The needs
of others – of my husband, my parents
and my children have always been more
important to me”.
These are the words of a woman with
university education and a business own-
er. She has always understood the frustra-
tions of her husband, when his business
was not doing well. She supported him and
even limited the activity of her own com-
pany: “I thought to myself that perhaps he
would feel better, if I didn’t earn so much.
I was so focused on his needs that I even
stopped caring about my appearance or if
I was dressed properly”. Another woman
who worked with her husband in his busi-
ness did everything she could to protect
his good name. She was hiding the trac-
es of violence on her face so that people
in his community would respect and sup-
port him.
Putting the interests of their hus-
bands and their family in the first place
often leads to the situation in which wom-
en for many years play the roles of “kitch-
en maids” of their oppressors.
Sensitivity to the needs of others and
personal dedication are the qualities that
make it difficult for women to set their
personal boundaries and help men to take
a  dominant position in the family, which
the first step to violence. This is partic-
ularly true of psychological violence, of
which many women are not aware for
years. After thirty years of marriage one
woman said: “I  was apparently happy.
Flourishing career, good children, po-
lite well mannered and educated”. When
their marriage started to fall apart and she
went to a psychologist to save it, she got
a  shock: “After just one hour of our con-
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
versation, she poured athe bucket of cold
water on his head. She said that I should
have started psychotherapy at least 20
years ago, because my husband had al-
ways hurt me, hurt my feelings. I was the
one who was more involved in this rela-
tionship. He knew that I was totally com-
mitted to him, so he started to strength-
en his position and extend the boundaries
of his freedom. And, after a  short while,
I was totally enslaved and subordinated to
him. She, the psychologist, said that I was
a typical product of years of abuse at the
hands of an oppressive husband.” Lat-
er, when she joined a  support group for
women who haves experienced violence,
she met more victims of psychological vi-
olence, mostly well educated, wise, cul-
tural, intelligent women who, after years
of living in hell, have finally understood
that they are free persons endowed with
all human rights.
The process of losing freedom and
rights in marriage was described by one
woman whose husband is an alcoholic:
“He struck me once or twice, but I  jus-
tified his aggressive behaviour by attrib-
uting it to his drinking problem. I sought
help in the addiction treatment centre. He
realized that my tolerance was rooted in
my weakness and at this moment he start-
ed to abuse me. After some time, when
I tried to fight for my rights, it turned out
that I had no more any rights. I had no say
in anything at all. He responded with vio-
lence to just about anything I said or did”.
She had endured abuse for over 10 years
before she decided to leave her partner.
Men’s power and women’s sense
of dependence
Women’s dependence on men is not
only economic but mainly psychological.
Many of our the women we interviewed-
speakers admit to having strong feelings
80

for their husbands and partners, but they
also recognize that these feelings distort-
ed the truth about reality. One woman
said: “I was once in it very much, so much in
love that I didn’t even realize that he made
all of my decisions for me, I  think he even
thought for me.” This caused her to be un-
der constant light pressure, which gradu-
ally increased. At the beginning, she was
criticized by him, but with time he start-
ed to treat her like dirt. She remained in
a  relationship where she was psycholog-
ically abused for 20 years: “I  personally
can say about myself that I  was mentally
enslaved by my husband ... I loved him very
much. Later, in some way I became psycho-
logically dependent on him”.
“We did everything together”, said
a  woman, who ran a  company with her
husband for many years, leading to her
psychological dependence on her husband.
“I was never independent, (...) somehow he
always was the one handing out jobs to do
and responsibilities, and he usually went ev-
erywhere with me. However, he criticized me
and denied me any praise or feedback, so at
the end, I didn’t know what was good or bad,
right or wrong . Now, for the past month, I’m
finally thinking clearly and gaining self-con-
fidence about what I want, what I want to
do, where I want to be”. The woman experi-
enced several years of mental and physical
violence in her relationship before she de-
cided to leave theher perpetrator. She said
she didn’t do it for herself, but for her child
who was a witness and a victim of domes-
tic violence.
Another woman said:” “he acted like
a  sect”. The woman did not work and for
those eleven years (...) “I didn’t feel the psy-
chological violence. He slowly and gently
made me believe in what he believed, acted
as a sect, talked and explained a lot to me.
I didn’t have contact with the outside world,
so his beliefs became my beliefs. Not know-
ing what I was stepping into, I followed him,
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and acted as he wanted. When I stopped go-
ing blindly through life and showed some in-
dependent thought, he started to behave ag-
gressively. It was unexpected”.
The dependence of woman on men
is strengthened by the culturally formed
stereotypes, that women are weak, de-
pendent and need male care. As a wom-
an I  have to rely on someone and as
a  woman I  have a  right to expect assis-
tance and care from men. Those beliefs
are shared by around 90 percent of wives,
and they are “universal”, that means, re-
main substantially unrelated to their edu-
cation, the number of children, the roles,
in which they saw themselves entering
adult life, the preferred model of mar-
riage. The cultural nature of these beliefs
is proven by a high percentage of unmar-
ried girls, who share these beliefs. You
could say that only life, their own expe-
riences in relationships, challenge their
attitudes towards men. Divorced women
are much more independent and less like-
ly to expect support, care, and assistance
from men’s part. A  sense of dependence
on men is also experienced by women
whose professional and material situa-
tion is good: “And I, who turned out to have
a pretty good situation professionally and fi-
nancially, I was scared about my future (...)
that I would die in misery and despair. That
is the way our encoded social beliefs func-
tion, that we won’t manage. We should be
taught since childhood, that we will man-
age, because every human being has pow-
er in his hands”.
Physical violence as a way of way
of exercising power
Physical violence sometimes ap-
pears at the beginning of the relation-
ship, as was the case with a woman who
had a very well-paid job and her partner
used this situation for his own personal
81 Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 M o n e y a n d p owe r i n t h e f a m i ly
 
and financial benefit. The woman was ter-
rorized. Even during work she was con-
stantly observed by her partner, or his col-
leagues:” I  lived under constant pressure,
intimidation, many times I tried to run away.
At home, I was also terribly tortured. Some-
times he would cut my hair with a knife or
throw knivfes at me, different things”. The
woman was isolated from family, friends,
which ensured the perpetrator more con-
trol over her:” I  had nobody that I  could
call, no girlfriends to come and visit me.
Several years of the relationship cost her
Cultural attributes of power
many thousand: because of him I still have
many financial obligations”.
When a  woman starts to behave in
a way that a man doesn’t accept, violence
becomes an instrument in order to sub-
ordinate the woman and maintain power.
One woman experienced this, whose fam-
ily for 20 years was „“ordinary” – she and
her husband and her both worked, after
work she was a housewife and a mother,
raising their son. And perhaps it would be
so to this day, had she, three years ago,
accepted the fact that her husband has
a  mistress and the mistress is a  form of
entertainment for him, while his wife at
home is a  maid, who should take care of
her husband and child, make sure they
have everything, do everything around
them. When the woman protested her
husband resorted to torment and beat-
ings. He applied his rule: ”” I’m the boss
here, you will do as I say, you will not defy
me, or else….”
When a woman, not a man, serves as
the sole wage earner, it has to raise the
frustration of a man, and violence in such
situations is a way of relieving tension as
much as maintaining power in the fam-
ily. That’s how it was in a  woman’s life,
whose husband didn’t work, and she:
Summary
“I took two jobs, to support us. Later, when
he began abusing alcohol, I couldn’t take it
anymore. I  found him a  job as a  landlord.
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
At the beginning, I  hid it from the neigh-
bors and the building administrator and
cleaned for him, because I  was ashamed,
simply ashamed. She was tortured by her
husband. She landed in the hospital three
times because of beatings. Later, when
she opened her own little shop (after the
separation), her husband came and de-
molished it in the presence of local cus-
tomers:” “he must have felt jealous, be-
cause he couldn’t achieve anything in life”.
The attribute of power is using force,
and the advantage of men is their physi-
cal strength, which is why they resort to
psychical abuse. Men beat, because they
have power and they want to show it. The
manifestation of power over a  woman,
beating her, takes place not only at home
but in public areas. One woman said that
once she had stayed overnight at work
because she had been afraid of her hus-
band’s aggression: ”””When he came for
me in the morning, he rushed me home,
yelling obscenities the whole way. He
beat me and kicked me in the street all
the way to the house. There was no pos-
sibility of escape”.
It is worth noting that many women
reported that they experienced physical
violence during pregnancy or shortly after
childbirth: “A  few days after birth I  was
beaten by him for the first time and it was
a  shock to me because I  did not expect
such a thing, I had never seen that side of
him. And since then I was beaten regular-
ly, even as I was eighth months pregnant
he kicked me in the stomach, it’s a mira-
cle that my child was born healthy”.
Feminist authors saw The authors of
feminist literature came to the assump-

tion that money and the status of being
the wage earner give men power in the
family. SomeThey assumed that women’s
professional work and having independent
financial resources would enable them to
achieve equal marital rights in their rela-
tionships. These hopes proved to be futile,
as proven by the stories of women who
work, sometimes earning more than their
partners or husbands, and sometimes be-
ing the sole wage earners while suffering
mental and physical violence from their
husbands or partners. Why is this hap-
pening? Empirical data indicate that dur-
ing the formation of a  relationship, pat-
terns and cultural norms play a  great-
er role than economic factors. Despite
the popularization of egalitarian models
of conjugal relations in our culture, tra-
ditional notions about what is important
for women and men, and what are the du-
ties of wives and husbands in the fami-
ly are still strongly present . The stereo-
type of a  man, who „“”by nature” is the
head of the family and ensures its sur-
vival, appears to be crucial for the belief
that he is the most important person in
the family. Some men will manifest their
power with the use of violence, regardless
of how well they comply with the role of
provider for their family. Many of them,
who do not earn money, squander mon-
ey drinking and fighting often just be-
cause it is the only way to show women
that they are important. Physical violence
in some circles seems to be the norm,
and every eighth Pole believes that argu-
ments and fistfights are a  normal thing
that happens in every family. Money does
not give power to women. When wom-
en earn more than men, achieve profes-
sional success , it raises the frustrations
of partners who release their tension, de-
value preciate their partners successes,
take control of family finances, income,
women, and finally use violence to show
83
Danuta D uch  

that they rule in the family. The Ccultural
context of thise phenomenon largely ex-
plains why professional activity does not
protect women from experiencing vio-
lence, or why, despite the violence, they
remain in relationships for years. But the
fact is that professional work is a prereq-
uisite that allows women to break free of
the violence. It reduces the scale of their
husband’s control, mitigates the econom-
ic violence and psychological violence
(I am not a parasite), it helps gain aware-
ness that a  woman can support herself,
that she has a choice (a gulp of air, which
is needed for women to escape their sit-
uation).
This situation will not change so long
as domestic violence will continues to be
treated as a  marginal phenomenon, so
long as it remains ignored and traditional
images of women and men based on the
norms and patterns of family life continue
being instilled in the educational process.
Women do not have knowledge about the
development of an equal relationship with
their partner. In schools we do not teach
the truth. Mothers raise daughters to be
good girls, and this is reflected in later
life. When there is violence in the family:
women feel grief stricken and wronged,
and instead of the situation mobilizing
them to say stop, on the contrary – they
stay are stuck in this sorrow and bitter-
ness, and blame themselves for it. And
this is probably the worst part of all. So-
cial education should include knowledge
on violence – one of the women notes
that only information and the transfer of
knowledge about appropriate and inap-
propriate human behavior from an early
age could change something in domestic
violence:” At school there should be class-
es that teach that such behavior is patho-
logical in the family. Not only drinking vod-
ka, but also those other behaviors are unac-
ceptable”.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 H ERSTORY

The story I was born in 1960 in Ruda Śląska in the working-class fam-
ily. I met my future husband when I was 21. Soon after, we
of Anna got married. At that time, I was six months pregnant with my
first daughter, Aneta. The nightmare began soon after. My
husband worked for five years as an electrician. He did not
give me any money, so sometimes we had nothing to eat .
My husband often came home drunk and forced me to
give him the money that I received from my mother. He need-
ed it to buy vodka. He paid no heed to the fact that I had
no more money to buy food for the children. When he was
drunk, he beat me, he called me vulgar names and raped me.
On many occasions, I fled to my mother’s home or slept in a
staircase. The rows were frequent. For no reason, he threw
himself at me with fists, he kicked me, burn me with ciga-
rettes and threw glass at me. I had broken fingers, broken
teeth, broken upper jaw and collarbone. One day, he threw
himself at me with a knife. He put it to my throat. Fortunate-
ly, my mother called the police in time. He often threatened
to kill me. I quote: “You beach, I’m gonna kill you!”
When sober, he apologized. He knelt and begged for for-
giveness. Peace did not last long, however – usually a week
or two. He had no pity for our daughters either. He beat them,
threw them out of the house and called them the worst names.
Because of drinking, he lost his job. He worked from time
to time as a construction worker, but he spent all his money
on alcohol. He bought food only if any money was left. I re-
ceived family allowance, food tickets and some coal.
My husband cheated on me frequently. I learned about it for
the first time from his colleagues and our neighbors, six years
after marriage. He himself admitted that infidelities happened
quite often.
On the day of tragedy, we drank alcohol at home. He be-
gan to call me names and wished me to die. He beat me with
his fists and struck on my head with a bottle. There was a lot
of blood. I was shocked and frightened. I grabbed a knife ly-
ing nearby and stabbed him. He survived. I was sentenced to
eight years imprisonment.
At this moment, I am reconciled with him. He visits me in
prison along with our daughters. He keeps promising he will
be better.
Only sometimes I learn that when drunk, he makes rows
and throws our daughters out of the house. They do not call
the police because they are afraid of him.

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 Agnieszka Graff
There is one thing the Catholic Church has
failed to learn while functioning in a democra-
cy: that it is only one among many ideological
options.
Kinga Dunin
Poland is a  Catholic country. Is that
a truism or a statement of fact? If we re-
ally are dealing with fact—and I  address
certain doubts below—a variety of other,
far more tangible facts then result from
it, among them: an extremely restrictive
antiabortion law; the presence of Catho-
lic religious instruction and the absence of
sexual education in Polish public schools;
the influence of the episcopate on laws
regulating in vitro fertilization; the privi-
leged status of the Committee on Church
Property; the participation of Church of-
ficials in apparently secular ceremonies;
finally, the inevitable voice of a  priest as
moral authority in public debates, partic-
ularly those related to sexual ethics and
reproductive rights. As philosopher and
feminist Magdalena Środa writes, „[in] Po-
land, Catholicism is both more and less
than a  religion. More, because it is not
merely a faith but a way of being and per-
ceiving the world, a criterion for classify-
ing others, an object of fashion, fascina-
85
The quagmire
effect
On the special role
of the Catholic Church
in Poland1
tion, snobbery, an explicit vehicle of pow-
er and an implicit vehicle of censorship (at
least self-censorship). (…) It is also less
than religious faith because it is often re-
duced to empty rituals.” Indeed, we are
so very Catholic in Poland that even most
of Polish atheists turn out to be Catholic;
non-believing to be sure, but practicing
nonetheless. Studies show that the vast
majority of Polish atheists get married in
a church (71%) and baptize their children
(74%). It’s a  matter of atmosphere, or –
as my Catholic friend explains – it is our
karma. Speaking of karma, according to
another interesting poll (from 2006, but
probably still valid), 28% of Polish Catho-
lics believe in… reincarnation.
Poland is a  Catholic country, we hear
whenever someone brings up the consti-
tutional autonomy of Church and state.
1
This essay was written within the Project of
the Heinrich Böll Foundation Regional Office in
Warsaw “Religion, Politics and Gender”. Pub-
lished with permission.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e q u a gm i re e f f e c t
 
It turns out that in Poland the separa-
tion of Church and state is supposed to be
a  friendly separation. Sounds reasonable,
but what exactly does it mean? Will Cath-
olics remove crosses from the voting sta-
tion in my neighborhood to recognize the
separation and respect the autonomy, or
should I pretend in a friendly manner that
the crosses are not there? The term com-
promise has made a  surprising career in
this context, consistently used to silence
dissenters: „What do you mean? You don’t
want a compromise? You’d rather start an
ideological war? For years this move has
served to check public debate on the con-
sequences of the antiabortion bill. Any ef-
fort to re-open this debate was seen a pri-
ori as a sign of confrontational tendencies.
Since 1989, the legal solutions concern-
ing reproductive rights have been a  se-
ries of „compromises” that Catholics reach
with other Catholics, convinced that in
this way they buttress Polishness, or nor-
mality. Compromise has invariably meant
an act of violence and exclusion in the
name of the Catholic majority.
Let us recall a  few key events from
the history of reproductive rights in con-
temporary Poland. •1990: at the Soli-
darity Congress, the Women’s Commit-
tee speaks for abortion rights. Effect: Sol-
idarity authorities dissolve the Women’s
Committee. •1992: a spontaneous move-
ment for a  referendum on abortion, the
so-called Bujak committees (perhaps the
most widespread grassroots social move-
ment since 1989), collects well over a mil-
lion signatures. Effect: the petition is ig-
nored by the Parliament. The sentence
Poland is a Catholic country is not a state-
ment of fact but a  sort of a  spell, a  self-
fulfilling prophesy sanctioning existing
power relations. The conviction that Po-
land is a  Catholic country is like a  quag-
mire or swamp, sucking us all in, Catholic
or not. The more we sink in it… the more
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
we sink. We have become so accustomed
to the quagmire that we don’t even ask
any more why the ground is so spongy,
why so slippery, why the air is so heavy. It
is, after all, only our familiar swamp, ex-
uding its slightly nauseating vapors; the
very air that we breathe. Someone who
says that Poland is a Catholic country does
not describe any extra-linguistic reali-
ty and does not invite a  discussion. The
function of this sentence is similar to This
is a free country when spoken in the U.S.
It is not a judgment or an opinion. Rath-
er, it is a strange mix of tautology, tease,
boast or challenge, and call to battle. The
sentence is an excellent example of a per-
locutionary act as defined by Austin, an
utterance that not only describes but also
changes reality. In the case of this sen-
tence the changes are gradual and the
power of the spell grows with use. The
more we repeat it, the more Poland be-
comes a  “Catholic country.” And we re-
peat it often: a  google search produces
180 thousand examples. Speech acts cre-
ate reality, calling to life communicative
contexts that make them legible. We live
in a Catholic country is a master act in this
respect. I - the Catholic declare that I feel
at home here. I  also suggest that you -
the Catholic are also Polish. I  call on the
interlocutor’s loyalty, I  build a  sense of
community and put others in their place.
Clearly, they don’t belong here. Polish Ca-
tholicism is like the horseness of a horse;
like the tomatoness of tomato soup. How
does one make broth? From meat and
vegetables. What is Catholicism? The
faith of the Polish people. What is Poland?
Why, it is a Catholic country. But what are
we really talking about? Does „country”
mean Polish society, the state or the na-
tion? As numerous studies show, Polish
society does not share many of the opin-
ions of the Catholic Church, and general-
ly does not perceive the Church as an au-

thority on moral issues. According to the
Constitution, the Polish state is secular.
Then what is “the Nation”? Yes, the Na-
tion seems to be the key here, but the Na-
tion is not something I  dare discuss. Not
just yet. We may ask further: does „Ca-
tholicism” refer to faith? Or tradition and
custom? Political influence of a certain in-
stitution? All of this reeks of lack of preci-
sion. But it is the swampy ambiguity that
is the force behind our sentence. Bubble,
bubble, Poland is a Catholic country, whis-
pers the swamp. Bubble, bubble, if you
don’t like it, get out. Bubble, bubble, you
don’t get it? Then you’re not one of us.
I  suppose you wish to know to whom
the swamp bubbles. Well, it bubbles to eve-
ryone, of course, but to women somewhat
more than to men, it seems. Why? Be-
cause the Church is particularly interested
in matters pertaining to human sexuality
and fertility, and these, in both physiologi-
cal and cultural terms, constitute a sphere
in which women bear more responsibility
and are more vulnerable to pain and loss.
That is why I think that the atheist Church
weddings and baptisms are – how shall
I put it? – the product of how women deal
with the Church. It is similar with the mass
participation of children of atheists in re-
ligion classes in schools (theoretically op-
tional, but in practice hard to avoid). Here
is how I think it works. To be excluded is to
be different, to be stigmatized is a source
of suffering, for children more than for
adults. The very possibility of a child’s suf-
fering is automatically the source of worry
for the mom. Mothers tend to worry more
than fathers. Mothers feel more guilt, if
for no other reason then because they are
held accountable more than fathers are. It
is no accident that Internet debates about
whether atheists should baptize their chil-
dren are frequented by women more than
by men. These are not philosophical dilem-
mas, but practical and emotional troubles,
87
Agnieszka G raff  

resulting from deeply felt concern that
one’s child might get hurt, from the wor-
ry that one won’t be a good enough moth-
er. Do questions of ideology and freedom
of conviction matter in comparison? Clear-
ly not. Here is a  sample of such reason-
ing: “I would like my son to have a future
choice of what he wants to believe in, and
not to serve as a  boost to Church statis-
tics from the first days of his life. The fam-
ily will disapprove, but that is what I want.
But… these are my wishes. And the child?
Won’t he feel left out as the only kid who
does not go to holy communion? (…) At
school, won’t he feel as if he is worse than
other kids? But is this reason enough to
baptize the child and invite the priest to
visit our home, for the child’s sake?”
I  don’t believe women are naturally
conservative. I  would rather see this as
involuntary conformity to which they are
compelled by cultural pressure. Various
things must be done against one’s own
desires, „for the good of the child.”
Another dimension of this pressure is
the Church’s power to shame, to create
what used to be called a  woman’s “dis-
grace.” Church teaching theoretically ap-
plies to the entire sphere of moral values,
but somehow we hear the bishops making
judgments about apparent “wrongdoings”
in intimate and family life and not about
injustice and harm done in the economic
sphere, not to mention cruelty to animals.
The Church is interested in sex and re-
production more than in other aspects of
human life. From the feminist perspective
this means simply that it is interested in
controlling women. Church power and au-
thority in this sphere – in which, let it be
added, clergymen can by definition have
no experience –are enormous. The pow-
er of the Church is akin to the power of
the patriarch in a traditional family. Oth-
er family members may quietly disagree,
but no one dares to contradict him openly.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e q u a gm i re e f f e c t
 
The father passes judgment, condemns,
criticizes and delivers endless speeches
in a tone of omniscience and thinly veiled
resentment. The others, even if they ul-
timately refuse to be bullied, judged or
bored to tears, are nonetheless forced
to listen to daddy’s diatribes Priests per-
form a similar function in the Polish me-
dia. During the recent public debate on
legislation concerning infertility treat-
ment, the bishops played the role of ex-
perts. In the summer of 2009, priests, and
only priests, debated the ethical dimen-
sion of the conflict between the surrogate
mother who decided to keep the child and
the couple who had hired her. The plight
of Agata, a 14-year-old girl who struggled
for an abortion in 2008, or the story of Al-
icja Tysiąc, who successfully sued Poland
in Strasburg after she was denied a  le-
gal abortion in 2001– the ethics of such
stories are discussed by the clergy in the
supposedly secular public sphere.
The privileged position of the Church
as a dispenser of values is rarely discussed
in mainstream public debate. Nonethe-
less, in recent years, particularly after the
death of Pope John Paul II, a certain gap
has appeared, a crack through which one
may voice open criticism of the Church
without being associated with the infa-
mous Jerzy Urban. This gap lends itself
to a naïve and melancholy narrative about
boundless gratitude, disappointed hopes
and profound mourning. The gratitude
concerns the Church’s position as an ally
of the democratic opposition, a refuge to
dissidents and mainstay of Polishness in
the dark times of communism. The dis-
appointed hopes are mentioned in rela-
tion to the Church’s recent turn to the
right. Here the name of Tadeusz Rydzyk,
the founder and director of Radio Mary-
ja, is mentioned with ritual disgust? Fi-
nally, the declaration of mourning af-
ter the death of John Paul II allows those
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
who criticize the Church, even if they are
non-believers, to situate themselves safe-
ly on the side of the Church, after all. Let
us hear a model version of this narrative.
Here is Adam Michnik:
„My hopes that the Polish Church
would become the Church of the Gospel
more than an institution were not fulfilled.
Today I  feel anticlerical temptation more
than I feel like making the effort to under-
stand. I try to restrain that temptation for
reasons of political opportunism and gen-
eral cowardice, but it lingers within me.
When I  read the majority of the writings
identify themselves as Catholic, I  experi-
ence estrangement and anxiety. I  never
had these feelings when, for years, I read
«Tygodnik Powszechny,» «Więź,» «Znak»
and John Paul II’s encyclicals. Something
has changed. Adam Szostkiewicz wrote an
article for «Polityka» in which he invent-
ed the term «de-Wojtylization of Polish Ca-
tholicism. There is something to it, I  be-
lieve. (…) I  consider the present state of
Polish Catholicism a  regression from the
tone proposed by John Paul II, Tischner,
Turowicz and Mazowiecki. (…) We feel the
loss of John Paul II.”
Obviously, I  agree with Michnik that
the Church has moved to the right. Yet
I  am not satisfied with his tale of the
Church that came to love democracy and
pluralism in the times of communism and
later supported the new democracy, only
to degenerate into neo-nationalism with
the death of the Pope. An entire decade is
missing from this story and that decade is
of crucial significance from the perspec-
tive of the history of women’s rights. What
is missing are the efforts of the Church to
limit women’s rights, women’s efforts to
oppose those limitations, and the submis-
siveness of all subsequent governments
to the pressure of the bishops.
Let us recall the facts once again.
1990: the Solidarity Congress dissolves

the Women’s Committee for its refusal
to accept the Church-defined position on
women’s rights with humility. 1992: a ref-
erendum on abortion rights fails to take
place despite massive public demand. We
may also retrace our steps back to the be-
ginning of the eighties. It is then that the
first anti-abortion campaign of the Church
took place: exhibitions of photographs
of mutilated fetuses set up in churches,
widespread circulation of the film Silent
Scream, organization of pro-life march-
es. All that began in the times of the first
Solidarity movement. And one more date,
2002: The Hundred Women’s Letter to
the European Parliament. It contained
a sobering assessment of the relation be-
tween women, Church and state in the
context of the approaching referendum
on Poland’s accession to the European Un-
ion. Let me quote one key passage: „Be-
hind the scenes of Polish integration with
the European Union, a barter of women’s
rights is taking place, disguised with the
characteristic biased use of language (…).
“Gazeta Wyborcza” has recently pub-
lished a  new edition of Michnik’s 1976
Kościół Lewica Dialog [The Church, the
Left, Dialogue]. From today’s perspective,
the book constitutes a fascinating record of
Michnik’s – and more broadly the secular,
left-wing opposition community’s – fasci-
nation with the Church. Time and again
Michnik cuts himself off from the lega-
cy of the pre-war critic of the Church, Ta-
deusz Boy-Żeleński and promotes „a  dia-
logue with Christianity” as an „anti-totali-
tarian encounter”. He empathizes with the
spiritual transformations of his lay friends,
who were searching for “inner harmony” in
“transcendence”. He dreams of an alliance
between „the lay and the Catholic left.”
This is not my story. I  grew up in the
eighties as a  child of two atheists, sym-
pathizers of the opposition, who signed
me up for religion classes because that
89
Agnieszka G raff  

seemed easier, because it shielded me
against anti-Semitism, and because it em-
phasized their oppositional stance in re-
lation to the political system of the time.
What the Church had to offer to a  teen-
ager in this period was not so much in-
ner peace and transcendence as nation-
alist rapture in a  pro-life setting. When
I  returned home excited after a  screen-
ing of The Silent Scream, armed with slo-
gans about the sanctity of “conceived life,”
my mother handed me a battered copy of
Boy-Żeleński’s book on the horrors of ille-
gal abortion in interwar Poland. After the
initial shock, it downed on me that Piekło
kobiet [Women’s Hell] was not only a high-
ly reasonable text, but one that may soon
be timely. I cannot find myself in Michnik’s
story about de-Wojtylization – the loss of
the spirit of John Paul II – and about grat-
itude, betrayed hopes and mourning for
the late Pope. I did not cry when the Pope
died. And if I also did not wear the “I didn’t
cry when the Pope died” tee-shirt, it’s only
because I am cautious by nature. After all,
in the area crucial to me as a woman and
feminist—reproductive rights and sexu-
al ethics—the Church remains faithful to
John Paul II: adamant and adamantly hos-
tile to women. Such was its position in the
times of Boy-Żeleński, in the times of com-
munism, in the times of the first Solidarity
movement, in mid-nineties… and so it re-
mains today. The problem is that women’s
rights have never been an important top-
ic in Michnik’s thinking. They don’t even
play the role of a  minor motif in his nar-
rative about Poland, the lay left, and his
own struggles with History and the Abso-
lute. Cornered, Michnik will at best crack
a  joke (as he does in the interview quot-
ed above) that during a debate in “Gazeta
Wyborcza” „feminists took his pants off via
the head „ accusing him of being an agent
of the Church. But clearly, he doesn’t take
our reprimands seriously. We do not count.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e q u a gm i re e f f e c t
 
We don’t even appear in the footnotes. The
transaction that we consider a  breech of
the rules of democracy, a  sign of mean-
ness and a  cruelty – frankly, that trans-
action was from his point of view quite
a good deal. Representatives of the former
democratic opposition handed over to the
Church a  woman’s right to choose in re-
turn for the bishops’ support for Poland’s
accession to the European Union. As fem-
inist writer Kazimiera Szczuka ironically
observes in the film Podziemne państwo ko-
biet [Women’s Underground State], wom-
en’s rights in return for a YES in the refer-
endum was not, to the former dissidents,
a high price to pay.
The Church, considered a  priori the
mainstay of Polishness, the keeper of tra-
dition, demanded that women’s rights be
taken away from them. So they were tak-
en away. Why? To quote a  well-known
song: “So that Poland could be Poland”.
The deal is done. We are now a member
state of the European Union. And the sign
of our sovereignty as a  “Catholic coun-
try” (carefully negotiated and recorded in
a special clause of the accession treaty) is
the compliance of our authorities with the
will of the Church. The Church has no in-
tention of giving back the once executed
toll; it has entrenched itself in its privi-
leged position. Its power is not waning,
but growing. Reproductive rights contin-
ue to atrophy: today we don’t even dis-
cuss the possibility of making abortion le-
gal again; we desperately speculate on
how to oppose the proposal of a ban on in
vitro fertilization. It is time to define the
swamp, to name its contents. The quag-
mire whose fumes we breathe is a blend
of politicized Catholicism and nation-
al identity, an identity assumed to be ho-
mogenous and unchangeable. It is an ide-
ological attitude uncritically adopted from
the eighties, the time of struggle with the
totalitarian system. It is ideological in the
90
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
sense that it proposes a  coherent image
of social reality which it simultaneously
legitimizes, in the sense that is a  set of
opinions held collectively rather than in-
dividually. Most of all, it is ideological be-
cause it cannot be verified, and yet it reg-
ulates collective behavior. The precepts
of this ideology are rarely formulated ex-
plicitly; instead, what is offered is an in-
sipid, swampy, empty rhetoric, a peculiar
sort of newspeak. It overflows with words
and phrases such as friendship, compro-
mise, centuries-long tradition and great
achievements of the Church in the strug-
gle with totalitarianism.
In his important book, Krytyka solidar­
noś­ciowego rozumu [A  critique of Solidar-
ity’s reason], Sergiusz Kowalski has de-
scribed the shaping of the categories and
assumptions which determined the think-
ing of the first Solidarity and which were
later never questioned. The category of
“the majority” was central for this way of
thinking and experiencing the world, ma-
jority perceived as a  type of monolith-
ic force resisting the totalitarian power.
The word “democracy” was repeated like
a  mantra in this period, which was form-
ative for the future, free Poland. Howev-
er, the model of the world which accom-
panied the struggle for democracy was
far from pluralistic. References were fre-
quently made to an ideal majority, to the
Nation, which opposes communism. The
world was divided into US and THEM. All
that was “truly Polish,” “authentic”, “ours”
was defined in opposition to the socialist
state perceived as artificial and unnatural.
THEY were the soulless, dishonest system.
WE had the truth, WE represented the Na-
tion. Ties with the past were crucial to this
perception of the world and Catholicism
provided the medium linking Solidarity’s
present with the pre-socialist olden days.
Thus the unquestioned authority of the
Catholic Church was solidified. In the con-

text of the early eighties the claim that Po-
land is a Catholic country was a challenge
thrown at the oppressive system. In a lib-
eral democracy, however, the same words
have an entirely different meaning: they
are a denial of democratic pluralism made
from a neo-nationalist position. In this new
context it would be fitting to state clearly
what one means by “country”, but no one
– with the sole exception of the extreme
right – says this openly.
Therefore, it seems worthwhile to
quote a  classic of Polish nationalist-Cath-
olic thought, whose words offer an honest
and clear assessment of the ingredients of
the Polish quagmire in its pre-war version:
“The Polish state is a  Catholic state.
This is not merely due to the fact that the
majority of the population is Catholic, or
that it is Catholic in such and such pro-
portion. Our position is that it is a Catholic
state to the full extent of the term’s mean-
ing because it is a national state, and our
nation is a  Catholic nation. Such a  posi-
tion brings with it serious consequences.
Namely, it entails that state laws should
guarantee freedom to all religious creeds,
but the ruling religion, the one whose
principles are respected by the state’s leg-
islation, is the Catholic religion, and the
Catholic Church represents the religious
side in all state functions.”
These words were written in 1927.
Yet, I am convinced that they describe re-
lations between the Church and the state
in today’s Poland; the present status quo
is admittedly a  watered-down version
of the pre-war national-democratic ide-
al, but the ingredients are the same. It is
no accident that the monument of Roman
Dmowski – the author of the above quota-
tion – has for several years stood and still
stands in a major square in Warsaw. And
it is no that accident that Nasi Okupan-
ci [Our Occupiers], a work about the pow-
er of the church by Boy-Żeleński, recently
91
Agnieszka G raff  

re-issued by the leftist think-tank Kryty-
ka Polityczna, reads very much like a com-
mentary on present day issues (and not
just thanks to the witty comments in its
margins penned by Kazimiera Szczuka).
Bubble bubble, my dear compatri-
ots, Poland is a Catholic country. And Boy-
Żeleński is no longer among us. When I be-
gin to feel suffocated by vapors rising from
our quagmire, or when I begin to hear its
bubbling in my own thoughts, I return to
an excellent essay by Kinga Dunin, pub-
lished in 2002 but still, sadly, relevant. Its
title is “Czarny ford i dwugłowe ciele, czy-
li Polak idzie do Unii” [The Black Ford and
the Two-headed Calf, or: a  Polishman on
his way to the EU]. With her characteris-
tic ironic wit, Dunin managed to capture
a state of affairs, which, if you stop to think
about it, is quite astonishing: on the one
hand, the omnipresence and all but om-
nipotence of the Church in Polish pub-
lic life; on the other hand – utter silence
about this fact on the part of enlightened
liberals, participants of the public debate
(which is often a  debate about the sorry
state of public debate). Dunin strives to
name and describe that which I  call the
quagmire effect. She writes about „the sa-
cred fear that comes over people who wish
to be considered decent and reasonable,
whenever they are called on to speak on
matters which an unwritten agreement
has somehow placed within the power of
the Church.” She also considers the sym-
bolic function of the Church, respected by
all, which results in „a readiness to declare
one’s assent to the Church view in all mat-
ters labeled as “moral issues.”
The power of Dunin’s essay lays in the
ease with which she asks the fundamen-
tal questions that nobody dares to ask in
Poland. What is the place of Church dis-
course in a pluralistic society? What func-
tion can be played in a public debate by an
institution that possesses, in its own view,
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e q u a gm i re e f f e c t
 
an absolute monopoly on truth, truth com-
ing from God? Why is it that bishops speak
on behalf of the Nation as a whole? Dun-
in goes on to ask, somewhat irreverently,
about the relationship between the said
Nation and the actual people who happen
to live in Poland: “Which group and whose
interests does the Church represent? (…)
On whose behalf is it speaking? All those
who have been baptized? Those who put
coins in the basket during Sunday mass?
Or does it speak for the Church as an insti-
tution or as The Church hierarchy? Could it
be that it is taking care of its own economic
interests? No, that cannot be the case. The
Church is beyond all suspicion….”
I  have recently come across another
striking text – one whose author captures
the quagmire as it drowns the minds of
my own associates and friends – Polish
feminists. Anna Dzierzgowska writes
about a  visit that feminist activists – or-
ganizers of the Polish Women’s Congress
– paid to the archbishop Nycz. She com-
ments on this peculiar event as follows:
„…a  visit with the archbishop, an invi-
tation extended to a  priest (even the wis-
est of priests) to comment on some weighty
matter – each action of this kind strength-
ens the general belief that no public debate
in Poland can possibly take place without
the voice of the Catholic Church. When we
insist on getting the opinion of the Church
on some political issue, we in fact legiti-
mize the right of the Church to express po-
litical opinions. And so we remain stuck in
the vicious circle, conserving with our own
actions the situation the much-missed Ta-
deusz Boy-Żeleński once called, “the occu-
pation of Poland.”
My sentiments – precisely. I call the vi-
cious circle a quagmire, but the intention
seems the same. What I refer to as „quag-
mire” is not so much the Church discourse
as such, as the general readiness to accept
it as a primary point of reference on axi-
92
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
ological issues, a  readiness also of those
who in fact do not agree with the Church’s
standpoint. The practice of collective nod-
ding is punctuated with declarations of
love and respect for John Paul II, as well
as statements of heart-felt grief after his
death. Everyone seems to be taking part in
these social rituals – from toddlers in kin-
dergartens to soccer fans. I  have recent-
ly come across a  declaration of respect
and sympathy for John Paul II in a  re-
view of a book described as a postmodern
porn novel, apparently a breakthrough in
erotic literature. The reviewer informs us
first, that the work is “the blog of the mys-
terious Arundati (…) a  de Sade in skirt
and stockings”. Next we are told that the
bold provocateur „likes JPII for „his pas-
sion and fidelity (…) and for his wise pa-
triotism,” as well as for his ability to fa-
miliarize us with „old age, sickness, dying
(…)”. At this point my initial urge to sneak
a peek at such sinful reading material sud-
denly evaporates. Perhaps this reaction is
a sign of intolerance – after all everyone,
including a  postmodernist and self-pro-
fessed creator of scandals, has the right
to „like JPII What troubles me, however, is
that the tributes to the Polish Pope are not
carefully considered declarations of belief,
but are habitual, simply part of the way
things are said and done. Such are the
boundaries of what comes to mind – in-
cluding the mind of a woman porn-writer.
The Church discourse does not speak
to Polish people, it speaks through them,
often against their own better judgment.
This is particularly painful to watch in the
case of women, because what the Church
has to say about our bodies and aspirations
is so often at odds with our feelings and
desires. When I  hear a  young girl defend
the woman’s right to abortion slip into
Church language with the term “conceived
life,” I  hear the quagmire sucking. When
infertile women on an Internet forum

speak of the guilt they feel and the sense of
sin they experience as they prepare them-
selves for yet another round of IVF in hope
of a longed-for baby – I know the quagmire
is bubbling viciously. When I hear that the
organizers of the Women’s Congress paid
the archbishop a  friendly visit on my be-
half, I think to myself in resignation – well,
it’s a  quagmire, after all. The media are
delivering a peculiar bit of news just now:
compulsory funerals for fetuses are being
performed in state hospitals, paid for by
the state, and without securing the con-
sent of the patients who miscarried. In
the city of Kielce alone, there have been
29 such ceremonies (six of them requested
by the parents). I read, rubbing my eyes in
disbelief, the description of a  fetus-burial
without the presence of parents. “There is
a tiny coffin with first name and last name
on it, and the date of death, and the tiny
bodies are usually locked inside, in jars or
other containers, and there is a priest who
performs the sprinkling with holy water,
as well as my employees – explains Darius
Toborek, the director of communal ceme-
teries in Kielce.” I  reread this description
to make sure that I  understood correctly.
Outside my window the wind is blowing,
but if you listen carefully, you might hear
the quagmire’s bubbling: Poland is a Cath-
olic country. Poland is a Catholic country. Po-
land is a Catholic country.
Translation by Krystyna Mazur & Agniesz-
ka Graff, with thanks to Regina Graff for fi-
nal touches, sources and inspirations.
Agnieszka G raff  

• Debate on baptisms on a forum for parents
www.rodziceradza.pl/Czy_musze_ochrzcic_
dziecko,q,60507.html Anna Dzierzgowska, Pary-
tet biskupa [The Bishop’s Quotas] www.feminote-
ka.pl/readarticle.php?article_id=732 Kinga Dun-
in, „Czarny ford i dwugłowe ciele, czyli Polak idzie
do Unii” [The Black Ford and the Two-headed Calf,
or: A Polishman on His Way to the EU], Res Publica
Nowa, 2002, 165 (XV) (2002): 29-36. Kościół, Mich-
nik, Dialog [The Church, Michnik, Dialogue] – record
of a meeting at „Guests of Gazeta Wyborcza” club,
Gazeta Wyborcza, 16-17.05.2009:18. Adam Mich-
nik, Kościół, Lewica, Dialog [The Church, The Left,
Dialogue], Warszawa: Biblioteka „Gazety Wyborc-
zej”, 2009. „List Stu Kobiet” (04.02. 2002) [100
women\s letter] text in Polish available at: http://
pl.wikisource.org/wiki/List_Stu_Kobiet Sergiusz
Kowalski, Krytyka solidarnościowego rozumu. Studium
z socjologii myślenia potocznego [A Critique of Soli-
darity’s Reason. A Study in the Sociology of collec-
tive thinking], Warszawa: Wydawnictwo PEN, 1990.
Press articles on the as yet unpublished study of the
situation and beliefs of non-believers in Poland by
Radosław Tyrała
• Angelina Kosiek, Agnieszka Drabikowska, Prawo czy
obowiązek pochówku? [the right to bury or the obli-
gation to bury], „Gazeta Kielce”, 5.10.2009:http://
wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80269,7109
052,Prawo_czy_obowiazek_pochowku_.html Ro-
man Dmowski, Kościół, naród i państwo, 1927 [The
Church, the Nation, the State]. Quoted after Wikipe-
dia. Magdalena Środa, „Kobiety, Kościół, Katolicyzm”
[Women, the Church, Catholicism] in: Czarna księga
kobiet, ed. Christine Ockrent, Warszawa, W.A.B,
2007. Sabina Kwak, review of Arundati, Terapia nar-
odu za pomocą seksu grupowego, http://www.granice.
pl/recenzja.php?id=5&id3=2038pt
93 Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Wanda Nowicka
The current debate on bioethical is-
sues, particularly on in vitro fertilization,
began toward the end of 2008. It was in-
itiated by the draft proposal signed by
Jarosław Gowin – a member of Opus Dei
and the Polish Parliament.
Mr. Gowin, like the Polish bishops, be-
lieves that in vitro fertilization is a con-
cealed form of abortion, according to the
Catholic Church an equivalent of murder.
In Poland, due to the strong political po-
sition of the Church, this religious dogma
has turned into prevailing ideology that
may soon lead to a drastic reduction in the
availability of assisted reproductive meth-
ods. The final result of this new crusade
will show, if Poland retains the remnants
of pluralism and democratic, ideological
neutrality, or rather takes another step to-
ward the religious state, where laws are
based on the political position of the Bish-
ops and instructions from the Vatican.
The Law on the Protection of the Hu-
man Genome and the Human Embryo and
on the Polish Council for Bioethics, that was
drafted by authorization of Prime Minister
Tusk, aroused great controversy, even in
the conservative club of the ruling “Civ-
ic Platform”. It also gave rise to numerous
protests and social initiatives.
Under the new law, the freezing of
embryos would be banned and in vitro fer-
94
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Every sperm
is sacred:
gametes more
important than
people
tilization would be available only to mar-
ried couples. The bill allows the creation
of only two embryos to be implanted at
the same time. The gametes used to cre-
ate the embryo would come only from the
spouse participating in the procedure – it
excludes the possibility of collecting se-
men and/or female reproductive cells
from third parties. The bill also envisag-
es the legal protection of embryos a ban
on trade and other gratuitous transfer of
embryos and gametes, as well as a ban on
pre-implantation diagnosis and embryo
selection. Embryos, that are not implant-
ed are to be earmarked for adoption.
The outrage caused by the bill prompted
The Parliamentary Club of Civic Platform to
appoint a panel of experts to prepare a new,
more liberal draft that would become a ba-
sis for negotiations to adopt a joint proposal.
The new draft allows the creation of super-
numerary embryos, their freezing and se-
lection before implantation. In vitro will be
also be available to common-law couples.
Ultimately, The Civic Platform failed
to agree a single project because of the
huge polarization of positions on this is-
sue. Hence, an unprecedented situation
occurred, where one Parliamentary club
has proposed two bills on the same issue.
Yet another draft law has been intro-
duced by the ultra-conservative “Law and

Justice” Party. This draft prohibits the
creation of a human embryo outside the
body of a woman, and provides for a “res-
cue program” for frozen embryos that are
to be implanted into the wombs of their
biological mothers, or – if it proves impos-
sible – be earmarked for adoption.
Restrictive, religiously motivated draft
proposals sparked numerous protests and
civil initiatives. Social organizations, es-
pecially women’s NGOs and associations
of people affected by infertility problems
jointly launched numerous protest cam-
paigns, including picketing the parlia-
ment. They set up the Social Team for the
Preparation of the Draft Civil Law on IVF,
which prepared a liberal draft submitted
to the Parliament at the end of July 2009.
Polish women as guinea pigs
The draft ensures full access to IVF, as
well as the safety and quality of this method
of fertilization. It allows creation and freez-
ing of embryos, pre-implantation diagnosis
and provides for the licensing and supervi-
sion of IVF clinics. It aims at adjusting the
Polish law in the field of genetics to EU re-
quirements. The draft provides for the re-
imbursement of infertility treatment from
public funds. It is the only legislative pro-
posal that could improve the current situ-
ation as regards the treatment of infertili-
ty: it ensures access to modern, validated
methods of medically assisted procreation
and ensures safety, efficiency and quality
of these methods. It does not discriminate
against people on the basis of their marital
status, age or sexual orientation.
Infertility is a disease
Bioethical issues may and should be
discussed. Assisted reproduction must be
regulated by law so that it would meet
the highest medical standards and re-
spect the rights and freedoms of individ-
uals and couples. We need a serious de-
bate about the issue of infertility as a social
problem that is increasingly widespread in
95
Wanda Nowicka  

the modern world. In light of the declining
birth rate, increasing life expectancy and
decreasing fertility, the Polish government
should conduct a policy that allows cou-
ples to have offspring. It also needs to de-
termine the standards to be met by clinics
providing infertility treatment to ensure
that their services are of the highest quali-
ty and to protect them from abuse.
The ruling Civic Platform, however,
does not seriously address the problem.
Instead, it contributes to the further stig-
matization of infertile couples who are of-
ten accused of being selfish and immoral,
if they seek to have their own child.
The draft legislation proposed by
Jarosław Gowin is dangerous, incoherent
and badly written. If it enters into force,
the government will gain enormous power
over citizens, for example by influencing
their lifestyles, decisions about marriage
and the possession of children. For Gowin,
in vitro fertilization is used to kill, and do
not bring new life. He is not interested in
helping couples to solve their medical and
ethical problems, only to protect the em-
bryo. Based on these assumptions, he has
created a draft law on the prohibition and
control. Each and every one of if its pro-
visions on assisted reproduction is incom-
patible with current medical knowledge
and standards adopted around the world.
If adopted, the draft will result in dras-
tic reduction in the number of children
born from assisted reproductive tech-
niques, for this must be the result of the
ban on freezing embryos. The draft allows
for freezing ova, but this method is still
at the experimental stage. Why are Polish
women to be guinea pigs? The world au-
thorities in this field hold it incompatible
with the current state of scientific knowl-
edge, to advise patients that freezing ova
is a viable alternative to freezing embry-
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Eve r y s p e rm i s   s a c re d : g a m e te s m o re i m p o r t a nt t h a n people
 

os. The low efficiency of this method is law, the woman who becomes pregnant as
confirmed by the fact that so far, only 260 a result of rape, will have to give birth, be-
children have been born from frozen ova. cause no physician will perform abortion
Entirely unacceptable is also the ban on her and no court will protect her rights.
on the operation of sperm and oocytes Much seems to indicate that Gowin’s
banks – institutions that have existed proposal has the best chance in the parlia-
in the world for many years. Depositing ment, as a “fruit of compromise”. Moreo-
sperm and ova in the bank is recommend- ver, despite appearances, it can count on
ed in nearly all countries in the case of the support of the Church. Although at
cancer, before radio or chemotherapy and present, the Bishops seem quite ambiv-
the removal of testes or ovaries. alent about it – in accordance with Lech
Wałęsa’s expression “to be for and even
against” – but one can see clearly that they
Human rights violations will support this legislative draft, at least
Embryo-centrism of the project has for pragmatic reasons. That is why they en-
been reflected in the creation of extreme- couraged fundamentalist Catholics to sub-
ly bureaucratized controlling machinery, mit proposals for a total ban of in vitro, as
i.e. the Office of Biomedicine and Biomedi- at their background, the extremely restric-
cal Central Registry, which would decide the tive Gowin’s bill seems to be a compromise,
fate of every Polish embryo and gamete. A having a real chance to be passed.
woman will not be able to decide the fate Gowin remains calm. Each new initi-
of her ovum. She may donate a kidney, but ative strengthens the position of his pur-
will not be allowed to give an egg to another portedly compromise proposal. He count-
woman. Decisions to implant the embryos ed the votes in favour and believes that
to another woman will be taken by the court his draft bill will go through Parliament
after verifying the qualifications of appli- as a political compromise, as other bills
cants and personal attitudes of parents. The will not be supported by the parliamenta-
court with an assistance of legal guardian ry majority. His belief in success is based
and another unspecified “specialist agency” on many years of experience with Polish
will check the appropriate parental attitude anti-abortion law. ”If we had been able to
of people who have no children. reach a compromise on abortion, which
Incidentally, through the back door, has been much more controversial, I do
Gowin tries to tighten abortion rules, and not understand why, we would not be able
de facto introduce a total ban on abortion, to succeed this time” – he said in an in-
as this must be a final consequence of re- terview. The compromise he has in mind
leasing the doctors refusing to perform an is to be reached between the ruling right-
abortion on grounds of conscience from wing coalition and the Church – without
the obligation to direct the woman to an- the interested parties, that is the citizens.
other medical facility, where she could get The views of the majority of society mean
an abortion. The same result would follow nothing to him. At present, more than
from depriving women who are unlaw- 60% of the population are in favour of in
fully refused abortion of the right to seek vitro fertilization. Gowin is sure that with
damages thus closing the road for wom- time, as with abortion, support for in vitro
en wishing to follow the footsteps of Al- will fall. I am afraid he might be right. It
icja Tysiąc and other Polish women who would be better if legislative process con-
successfully complained to the European cerning in vitro fertilization stopped. Bad
Court of Human Rights. As a result of this law is worse than no law at all.

96
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 Adam Szymura
The large theatre hall in Bratislava on
26  October 2006 was overflowing with
people. The play “The scent of wild
roses” sparked tremendous interest in
the Slovak capital. The Bratislava news
media led by three Slovak television sta-
tions sent representatives to the event.
It’s amazing that such a high level of in-
terest was sparked by a  play featuring
amateur actresses.
97
The scent
of wild roses
A year or so earlier, none of the women
appearing in the play imagined that they
would one day stand on a  theatre stage
under spotlights and that several hundred
spectators, moved by their performance,
would applaud them. Until that time, they
had lived with the conviction that they were
not worth much. They were fully convinced
of that by their loved ones: husbands, life
partners, parents. From victims of fami-
ly violence they had become perpetrators
and as a  result landed in prison: suffer-
ing, wrestling with bad consciences, long-
ing for their children, often condemned by
their families, neighbours, and acquaint-
ances. Was it possible to lift them out of
such tragedy? Having lived through such
awful experiences, was it possible to still
live normally? The women from Lubliniec,
before they began their theatrical therapy,
were convinced that there was no way out
for them. In the meantime, the stage show
in which they took part changed their atti-
tudes and their perception of themselves
and their past and future. They began to
believe in themselves; that life is worth liv-
ing and that they still have something to
gain. And so, eleven Cinderellas from Po-
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e s ce nt o f   w i l d ro s e s
 
land became stars of the evening in a Bra-
tislava theatre and in the Slovak media.
Those who saw “The Scent of Wild
Roses” got such a  dosage of emotions and
impressions that they will remember this
event for a long time. The standing ovations
and tear-filled faces of audience members
were in themselves a review of the show.
The actresses from Lubliniec Prison
underwent an incredible metamorphosis.
Only memories remained of women who
were broken, frustrated, full of complex-
es, and running away from life and public-
ity. In Bratislava they bowed to crying and
smiling spectators who had been moved
by the play, willingly gave interviews and
let themselves be photographed. They
knew perfectly well why they had sparked
such great interest and had stopped be-
ing ashamed of their pasts and of what
they had lived through. They began to be
proud. They talked about their lives, about
their motivation, about why they decid-
ed to confront themselves in a  theatri-
cal show, and the fact that this adventure,
happily for them, had changed their lives.
Education through drama –
confronting reality and finding
oneself
Drama is a  very effective method and
can work on many levels simultaneously.
It can be used in education and resocial-
ization. Through drama, one can become
aware of internal conflicts and the contra-
dictions between the inner self and the de-
mands or expectations of others. Further-
more, one can not only become aware of
these conflicts, but also realize one’s po-
tential, become creative, authentic and ca-
pable of constructive action.
Education through culture is constant-
ly underestimated. Unfortunately, cultural
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
institutions which try to get involved in the
educational process engage in many ill-ad-
vised activities. This happens because the-
atrical productions for young people are
mainly the product of marketing, and not
proper cultural offerings with education-
al value. For this reason, culture and art
are marginal among the interests of con-
temporary youth. For them the prevailing
model has become the person of success,
and all problems, conflicts and failures are
the source of serious emotional and ex-
istential stress. Finding oneself in a  diffi-
cult or complicated life situation is a trag-
edy. A feeling of shame and powerlessness
prevents people from asking for help. They
close themselves in their own problems.
They lose control of reality and of them-
selves. They feel lonely, defeated, help-
less, and isolated. They don’t see any fu-
ture or any help for themselves. The only
way to again believe in themselves, in the
sense of life, is to look objectively at them-
selves. Just such a  confrontation with re-
ality is possible in the theatre, in drama,
where one can look at oneself from anoth-
er perspective and understand difficult sit-
uations which have happened in one’s life.
The women from Lubliniec –
facing up to tragedy
It was precisely with people like this,
who find themselves at the very bottom of
their existence, who I was involved with at
Lubliniec Prison. These were women who
had been sentenced to prison for killing
their life partners. They took this drastic
step after having been subjected to a  lot
of humiliation. They were beaten and mis-
treated both physically and psychological-
ly. They were incapable of dealing with
the difficult situation in which they found
themselves. They had lost faith in them-
98

selves. They believed that they were bad
wives and mothers.
It ended up in tragedy. The death of
someone they once loved caused double
or triple pain. First they lost hope of any
change in their lives. Right up to the mo-
ment of the killing, they were convinced
their fate might change. They believed, for
example, that their husband would stop
drinking. But the killings unequivocally
made it impossible. They turned from vic-
tims to perpetrators. It was a  terrible pity
because they had lost a  close, once-loved
person. In many cases their families, loved
“The scent of wild roses” –
ones, neighbours, and friends turned their
putting the play on stage
backs on them. Now they would be sepa-
rated from their children for many years –
the death of their father and imprisonment
of their mother had condemned their chil-
dren to an unknown future. The tragic res-
olution of their problem condemned these
women to a marginal existence. They end-
ed up in prison. At the same time, tragical-
ly, they experienced some relief: no more
beatings, fear or mistreatment.
In prison, sentenced to terms ranging
from 8 to 15 years, they are learning a new
life. One has to organise one’s time some-
how. But starting a new life is not easy. It’s
true, they were under the care of prison
psychologists, but when I  arrived for the
first rehearsal, they looked at me in a hos-
tile and distrustful way.
The prison authorities proposed that
they take part in a  play. The women now
had to face up to their past. They were
afraid, which was not surprising. They im-
agined that they would have to make a big
confession.
They were afraid that once again they
would have to recount everything from the
beginning, exactly, with all details. That’s
why they faced this task with reluctance. They
didn’t see any sense in it. They were con-
99
Adam Sz ymura  

vinced that they would become the subjects
of an experiment which would only bring
them another dose of humiliation. Twelve
women went to the first rehearsal. But one
of them, having a more dominant personali-
ty decisively refused to take part. I was afraid
that her authority would increase the un-
willingness of the others. Nevertheless, the
first verbal skirmish, the first declarations, in
which I  outlined my vision of the task, had
a positive effect. The women put their trust
in me and kept coming to the rehearsal.
The first meeting made me realize
how very sensitive and delicate the people
were. That’s why I weighed every word of
mine and very slowly and carefully tried to
enter their world. I began to piece togeth-
er their drama. We got to know each oth-
er. In order to assess the potential of each
of these women, I made use of three ele-
ments during the rehearsals:
ƒƒ reading various theatrical works,
ƒƒ setting stage movement to music,
ƒƒ stirring up discussion on general themes.
This way, closely observing each par-
ticipant, I  could identify the potential of
individual women. Then I  could assign
the roles that each of them would play. It
turned out there were two candidates for
the leading role. The first one was a young,
pretty, delicate blonde, the second was al-
most the opposite; an expressive, strong,
mature woman. Thinking about how to
make maximum use of the potential of
both these women, I  came to the conclu-
sion that it would be best if both played the
main role in the play.
Such a decision immediately guided my
thinking about how to construct the play.
I thought about presenting two parallel sto-
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e s ce nt o f   w i l d ro s e s
 
ries, which would be so intertwined that it
would be difficult to separate one from the
other, and for all intents and purposes it
would be possible to consider this a single,
integrated story. I considered that doing the
play this way would add multiple meanings
to it. The first story describes the growing
love of a woman for a man. This love can-
not be explained in any logical manner. It
is some sort of powerful, invisible force to
which the young woman surrenders, and
she is not in a position to resist it right up
to the moment of tragedy, to the critical
point. The second story begins where the
first one ends. It is about life after trage-
dy, an attempt to find a way out of the pre-
dicament created by the nightmare of one’s
past. I knew that it would be safer to have
a very general plot, rather than one based
on the specific life story of any of the wom-
en taking part. Only a few key facts from the
lives of the victims of violence needed to be
used. Those most often repeated elements
in the life story of each victim of domestic
violence were first and foremost alcohol and
the loneliness experienced by every woman
fighting an unequal battle with an abusive
husband. As a result, there appeared finan-
cial problems, rejection, lack of understand-
ing from the family and loved ones, and the
indifference of neighbours. Somewhere in
the background there lingered regret over
lost love. And the squandering of this feel-
ing of love during the years of a  drama-
filled marriage probably hurt most of them.
Trips and performances
The performance in Bratislava brought
to a close the life of the play “The Scent of
Wild Roses”. It had premiered on 19 May
2005 and was a  pleasant surprise for the
audience in the common room of Lubliniec
Prison.
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Thanks to the initiative of the director
of the Centre for Women’s Rights Founda-
tion in Warsaw, Urszula Nowakowska, who
was present at the premiere, and also to the
resourcefulness of the director of Lubliniec
Prison, Lidia Olejnik, the play was pre-
sented many times in Poland and abroad.
It is worth recalling that the actresses tak-
ing part in the play were women who were
serving prison sentences, and so each trip
entailed many organisational difficulties.
But in spite of that, the play was staged over
twenty times outside Lubliniec. Among the
most important trips were those abroad:
to Bratislava, as mentioned earlier, and to
Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, where at the
beginning of July 2005 there was a  festi-
val of therapeutic theatre. The performance
of the actresses from Lubliniec completely
outshined those of the other theatre groups
from Germany, Slovenia, Malta and Iceland.
The performances staged in Katowice
and Zamość prisons were a  tremendous
experience. There the play was watched
by prisoners who had been sentenced for
family abuse. After the show, instead of
the expected discussion, there was a long,
very telling silence. The men were badly
shaken, and could not look the women ac-
tresses in the eye.
“The Scent of Wild Roses” was accom-
panied by several academic conferences de-
voted to the problem of incarcerated women
and resocialisation in penal facilities. These
took place in Warsaw, Wrocław, Popów near
Warsaw (at the Centre for Training of Prison
Services Staff), and Cieszyn.
The shows presented in cultural cen-
tres of these towns also turned out to be
interesting. They were open to the public,
and anyone interested could attend. Af-
terwards there were long discussions in
which the public expressed its empathy for
the women prisoners. Not infrequently au-

dience members would stand up and loud-
ly talk about experiencing similar problems
in their own homes or families.
From one trip to the next, from one per-
formance to the next, the actresses’ self-
confidence grew, as did their feeling that
they should tackle in the widest possible
group the problems they experienced. They
began to feel the need to share with others
they own experiences and reflections. For
the public, in turn, the actresses became
more heroines than social outcasts. But the
tragedies of these women were a warning,
and not just some heartrending tales like
the many one comes across in the tabloids
or glossy magazines.
Personal reflections
and conclusions
Drama has not only therapeutic but also
prophylactic value. It enables a balance to
be maintained between what is individual
and what is common space for many peo-
ple. By giving a feeling of connection with
other people, it reduces irrational fear and
the feeling of loneliness. It brings out the
individuality of a person, it teaches him to
discover his own inclinations and abilities.
Dramatisation is an excellent tool for ped-
agogical and resocialisation work. Howev-
er it demands from the organiser of the un-
dertaking sensitivity and openness to the
problems of others, and at the same time
the ability to properly interpret reality and
recreate these problems on stage in an in-
teresting manner.
“Let us play an idea and it will be-
come reality”. These words of John Dewey1
1 
John Dewey (1859-1952), American philosopher
and educator, created the concept of the school
of practice. His educational concept was based
on understanding experience as the essence of
truth – what is true is what proves to be true in
action. Experience is the source of acquisition
101
Adam Sz ymura  

are the essence of what can be achieved
through dramatic workshops. The staging
of all kinds of dramas triggers in partici-
pants feelings of freedom in bringing one’s
own ideas to life. It strengthens the moti-
vation to act and confidence in oneself. In
a  group embarking a  common artistic en-
terprise, a  specific type of dialogue takes
place and unusual bonds are established.
Reducing the world to defined symbols and
assigning roles enables one to show uni-
versal truths about mankind.
A theatrical undertaking can be divided
roughly into drama and theatre. Between
drama, which is a  pedagogical method
aimed primarily at work with children and
youth, and theatre there exists a fundamen-
tal difference. Drama has an educational-
cognitive character and involves experienc-
ing, living through specific situations with-
out any contact with the audience. Theatre
is primarily communication between cre-
ators, actors and the public. It is certainly
a higher form of communication.
The goal of drama is to educate, which
is achieved during exercises based on imag-
ined situations. The goal of theatre, on the
other hand, is to give the audience a com-
plete picture filled with a range of emotions,
as well as conveying a specific message.
In working with adults, especially those
who are experiencing serious life problems
and verification of knowledge, and so his school
of practice developed the watchword: learning by
doing. This school was set up on the model of the
self-sufficient household, where children engage
in a variety of craftwork and domestic tasks. The
stress was on practical and hands-on activity. The
main goal of the school was stimulation of the
innate abilities and interests of children, enrich-
ment of their experience, and independent work;
knowledge, however, was acquired along the way,
so to speak. There were no classes or subjects at
school; at the core there was a problem that the
child encountered in daily life, and by solving it he
acquired knowledge. For that reason, the task of
the school was to recreate situations which were
the sources of such problems.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e s ce nt o f   w i l d ro s e s
 
(and spending time in prison is clearly one
of them), it is necessary to do theatre, not
drama.
The cognitive function does not play
a  major role here. The goal, i.e. stag-
ing a play, while very concrete, lies sever-
al months or at least weeks in the future,
and moreover requires systematic, pains-
taking work. In order to convey to someone
the message of a theatrical work, you have
to live through it yourself and understand
it. Drama can seem to be incomprehensi-
bly strange to adults. In the case of pris-
on actors, coming face to face with spec-
tators – both those living in freedom and
those sharing their fate in prison cells – has
tremendous meaning. Regarding the first
group, one can try to bring them closer to
one’s own problems and dilemmas, which
perhaps they have never encountered or
experienced. Regarding the second, one
can convey to them certain values and ob-
jective truths, and show that they are not
alone in their prison misfortune.
A  fundamental element of drama is
conflict. The attempt to resolve it dur-
ing the course of a play demonstrates the
making of wrong choices and their conse-
quences. Participation in a  theatrical un-
dertaking allows people to get some dis-
tance from their lives. It enables them to
understand their life situation and to get to
know themselves, and also to understand
that there exists a  certain inevitability of
events by showing them the consequences
arising from a certain way of life.
Dramatisation is undoubtedly a  very
attractive method in which elements of fun
and entertainment are mixed with reflec-
tion and pensiveness. It is very effective
in transferring knowledge and develop-
ing one’s personality. Drama is an oppor-
tunity to move into an inner space, which
in prison conditions has added meaning. It
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
is, however, a  space in which values be-
come real. The staging of dramas can be
a form of rest from experienced reality, but
it is not an escape from life struggles be-
cause it enables the participants to discov-
er authentic values. Above all, dramatisa-
tion involves asking questions. The answer
each time depends on the participant; it is
formulated in the process of making moral
choices and determining attitudes towards
difficult life problems.
During dramatic action there is accel-
erated learning of new forms of behaviour
and social functioning. In a drama, learning
is a process stimulating modification of be-
haviour under the influence of the individual
experiences of the participants. It consists of
emulating, forming and confirming certain
cognitive patterns and moral-social models.
Staging a  play is therapeutic not only
for the actors. “Entering” into a  charac-
ter is always a  big adventure. Experienc-
ing unknown states, precisely because
they are not ours, enables us to improve
ourselves. Such a  process of confronta-
tion with oneself through a stranger’s ex-
periences and emotions has a strong ther-
apeutic quality, sometimes even traumat-
ic, but which with psychological help can
lead to fundamental changes in character
and personality – usually positive chang-
es. Prisoners take part in a  very special,
sometimes painful metamorphosis. Their
monotonous and strongly regulated life is
suddenly transformed into participation in
a very emotional and spontaneous activity.
The actresses themselves become subjects
of the play and without hesitation present
it to others. And that is the next step of the
therapeutic act in the process of improv-
ing one’s inner self, especially on such lev-
els as sensitisation, readiness to listen to
another person’s viewpoint, willingness to
acknowledge his right to his own opinion,

and acceptance of the judgements of oth-
ers and reflection on them.
In conclusion, I  would like to formulate
my own definition of theatrical therapy. I re-
duce the entirety of therapeutic-theatrical
activities to three ways of doing therapy:
ƒƒ theatre
ƒƒ drama
ƒƒ dramatisation
Theatre is a meeting between an actor
and a spectator. It can be of an entertain-
ment nature or it can carry an important
message. I usually reserve theatre for pro-
fessionals who, with the help of their talent,
actors and life experience, are able to con-
vey important messages to the audience.
Drama is above all a meeting with oneself
without an audience; it is the anticipation
of certain events or relations. It means go-
ing through – in an imagined world creat-
ed for one’s one needs – something which
103
Adam Sz ymura  

has not yet been experienced. One can say
in short that it is anticipation of experi-
ence. This type of activity I especially rec-
ommend for children, who can learn about
the consequences and life truths without
the risk of painful and irreversible experi-
ences. Dramatisation means putting one’s
own experiences on stage and reliving cer-
tain key sequences from one’s life.
In creating the play “The Scent of Wild
Roses”, I made use of precisely this latter
form of theatrical activity. However, all
these levels intersect. The most impor-
tant thing is to find one’s own way, one’s
own method of communication with peo-
ple, and draw satisfaction that one can
offer someone else a  helping hand. The
theatrical stage is the best place for help-
ing one to discover oneself and one’s
place in the world without hurting any-
one’s feelings.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Passion:
women drop
their masks
and mend the
world

“Passion – the rite of dropping sacrificial

masks” is the title of a play prepared by the
participants of the project “Work and dig-
nified life for women victims of violence”,
funded from the European Union EQUAL
PROGRAMME and implemented by the
Women’s Rights Center from Warsaw, Po-
land. The project aims at equal opportuni-
ties and improving the living situation and
employment of women experiencing do-
mestic violence.
Dagna Ślepowrońska, a psychotherapist,
author and the director of “Passion” talks
with Andrzej Dominiczak, the editor of
this issue of Law & Gender.
Andrzej Dominiczak: “Passion” is a play
performed by women who are victims of
violence; it is also a form of therapy. From
a feminist and humanist point of view
this fact may raise some doubts. Why are
these women placed in the role of individ-
uals who qualify for psychotherapy? Isn’t
it in some way incompatible with the ob-
jectives of the project? After all, its pur-
pose is to improve women’s capacity to
cope in the labour market, while involve-
ment in therapy seems to indicate that
they are not fully capable of independent
life, that they require treatment. What is
the disorder they suffer from?

Dagna Ślepowrońska: Our clients and

actresses began to participate in a sup-
port group, where they reported various
psychological problems. Then they decid-
ed whether they wanted to continue their
therapy and how. At that time, Urszu-
la Nowakowska from the Women’s Rights
Centre proposed to create a theatre group,
which was first intended to present the

104
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010

problems faced by victims of domestic vi-
olence to a broad audience. Soon, howev-
er, we realized that this approach would
be too shallow. We noticed the inability of
the participants to free themselves from
violent partners was anchored deeply in
their distant past. The problem does not
begin with their husband. Therefore, in
our performance, we return to the child-
hood experiences of our clients and hero-
ines at the same time.
In addition, we knew from the in-
terviews and applications to participate
in our program that most of the wom-
en had sought psychological and prac-
tical help earlier. One woman asked her
priest and was told by him that violence
at the hands of her husband is a cross that
a woman should carry. Another terribly
beaten woman called the police and met
with scorn and derision. Many of our cli-
ents have been victims of mental, phys-
ical and sexual abuse, sometimes at the
hands of their fathers. At times, their
mothers participated indirectly, pretend-
ing they did not know anything. Women
who want to leave their abusive partners
need to build their self-confidence, and
we must help them. Regaining the dignity
and self-esteem begins from building per-
sonal strength and self-esteem. Women
should stop thinking about themselves as
poor and helpless. We teach them to think
and express that they are strong, that
they will survive and cope with the prob-
lems they face. We do not cure anybody.
We simply help women find new ways to
grow and encourage them to bring their
internal problems from the shadows of
the past into the daylight. They need to
remember the voices of their parents and
other important people who once insisted
that they were worthless and would not
cope in life. Only then may they become
105
 

self-reliant and find the strength to over-
come the shadows of the past. This is not
a purely symbolic act, or an amateur thea-
tre, which simply tells their sad story. It is
a rite of emancipation and a return to the
origins of theatre.
AD: Why should women who want to
find a good job return to the origins of
theatre?
D.Ś.: Because there is hardly any dif-
ference between therapy, particularly
group therapy, and theatre in its original
form. Theatre at its beginnings had largely
therapeutic goals. Catharsis in the ancient
Greek theatre was a form of social ther-
apy. In one Polish village in the Kashubi-
an region, for example, locals hold a cer-
emony called “the court over a kite” – a
kind of bird. The kite is a symbol of evil in
this region. Once every four years, the vil-
lagers, in ceremonial robes and wigs, meet
in “court” and “the judge” asks them what
evil the kite has done. People shout accu-
sations. It turns out that the kite has made
Jolka pregnant, has stolen a tractor, has
beaten some children, and so on. In this
way, the grievances of all villagers are ex-
pressed. Then, the executioner arrives on
horseback, wearing traditional execution-
er’s attire. The kite, made of clay and filled
with red paint, is placed on the trunk and
beheaded. Then, the villagers go to the
lake, drink vodka, make a fire and have fun.
Such rituals serve first of all a therapeutic
function, sometimes for a small group, and
sometimes for the greater community.
AD: And in this case? Can the project
involving a handful of participants in
some way contribute to improving the
situation of other women? Can it play
any social role?
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Pa s s i o n : wo m en d ro p t h e i r m a s k s a n d m e n d t h e wo r ld
 
D.Ś.: Certainly. After all, it is also a
play – the piece of art, which raises strong
emotions. The audience at our perform-
ances is much larger than we expected.
The hall is always filled, and the response
from the spectators is very strong. Af-
ter the performance, the spectators have
come to me, both men and women. They
sometimes cry or tell me their very inti-
mate stories. It is very important to me
that the men approach and say that the
problems concern them too. .
AD: I was told that particularly emotion-
al was the response of women from one
of the prisons.
D.Ś.: Indeed. We recently played in a
woman’s prison in Lubliniec, a small town
in southern Poland. The performance was
incredibly moving to those woman. Most
wept, not so much, however, because
they were so touched by the fate of sev-
eral unfamiliar women. They were cry-
ing because what was happening on stage
directly related to their own experiences
and emotions, often very painfully. I think
that in the future they will be able to deal
with the problems of domestic violence
more effectively.
AD: How do the participants react to
such an emotional response which they
probably have not expected?
D.Ś. They are increasingly eager to take
part in performances. They want to help as
many women as possible. They have be-
gun to treat this activity as their mission.
For example, at the initiative of our clients,
we will give a performance in one of the
youth custody centres. Our ladies want to
help these girls. In prison, each time the
mask was taken off, it was welcomed with
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
applause. Spontaneously. It was a very im-
portant experience! Now the participants of
“Passion” want to help other women. They
want to show others that they can always
do something good with their life.
AD: You have worked with these wom-
en for several months. Have their situa-
tions improved during this time? Have
they found jobs, received a promotion or
a long-awaited pay rise?
D.Ś.: At the beginning, most of our
clients had been unemployed. Then they
were going through their ups and downs,
but most of them found employment. One
of the ladies had a very difficult situation
at work. She was badly treated and could
not cope with it. Her situation has changed
since she started to enforce her personal
boundaries and to demand respect for her
rights. Now she feels respected, no long-
er does other people’s work and does not
work overtime if she doesn’t want to. The
same lady, shortly before the premiere of
“The Passion”, finally found the courage
to part with a man who had abused her
for many years. The women participating
in our program have really changed their
lives. In some cases, these changes have
been quite amazing.
AD: According to many scholars and
practitioners, one of the reasons for the
persistence of discrimination against
women in the labour market is a lack
of solidarity among women. Some, like
David Buss or Griet Vandermassen
find the causes of this phenomenon in
the evolutionary history of our species,
while other, especially left-wing and
post-modern feminists claim the prob-
lem is the market mechanisms in alli-
ance with the patriarchal culture. Wom-

en, even in difficult situations, often
compete rather than support each oth-
er and are not willing to organize them-
selves into groups or trade unions. Even
in drastic cases, such as sexual harass-
ment, women can not always count on
each other. Does this problem play any
role in your work? Does this artistic and
emotional experience strengthen the
solidarity among your clients?
D.Ś.: It seems to me that the argument
about the lack of solidarity among wom-
en is not entirely unfounded, although
I would not look for an explanation in ev-
olutionary psychology. It is rather educa-
tion and the culture in which we live, that
is at fault. Moreover, we know many tra-
ditional communities where women form
a strong community and help each other.
Several months of common work has cer-
tainly created a strong sense of commu-
nity among these women. Women helped
one another not only during rehearsals
and performances. They spur one another
on to fight in their private lives and in the
workplace. They help one another with
children and offer shelter to those who
have fled their homes. The sense of com-
munity is strong and it seems that it will
have a lasting impact, even if the ladies of
this particular group would no longer be
in touch with one another.
AD: Taking part in the performance
gives rise to the changes in the lives of
the program participants, but also – as
you said earlier – in the lives of many
others who have seen your play. Women
begin to defend their dignity and inter-
ests in the labour market, refusing to ac-
cept the exclusion, exploitation and oth-
107
 

er forms of ill-treatment. Would you say
that yours is also a political theatre?
D.Ś.: I think so. After all, we helped
change the attitudes of many women to
themselves and to their place in society.
Moreover, we have influenced the sen-
sitivity and attitudes of many men. Yes,
certainly it is a wee bit of tinkering with
mending the world.
AD: My last question is less about the
“Passion” and more about your therapeu-
tic work with women. Several years ago
I participated in cross-cultural studies on
domestic violence conducted by prof. Isa-
belle Marcus from the University of Buf-
falo. In these studies, men from many
countries and different cultures were
asked whether they sometimes use vio-
lence against their wives or partners, and
if so, for what reason. Interestingly, the
vast majority of men surveyed, regardless
of their culture and country of origin gave
the same reasons, and it was the alleged
grouchiness of women, which they can’t
stand. What do you think about this?
D.Ś.: Men, as usual, make woman re-
sponsible for their own behaviour. This
does not mean, of course, that grouchi-
ness may not be tiring. Women are more
aggressive verbally, men – physically.
Grouchiness is a form of aggression. On
the other hand, I know many grumpy men
and no women who would then as a con-
sequence beat her husband. So it is a flaw,
but one you can live with. But if you sim-
ply look for a pretext for violence, grouch-
iness seems well suited for this role.
AD: Thank you very much
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 H ERSTORY

The story My husband abused me physically and psychologically

throughout our marriage. There are no words that can re-
of Irena flect the pain, fear and humiliation that I have had to en-
dure from him.
In the early years of our marriage, when I was pregnant,
my husband tormented me mentally. He would fly into
a  rage for the most trivial reasons. Sometimes it was be-
cause his shirt wasn’t ironed, other times because I was too
tired to hand wash his jeans.
I was pregnant, I felt bad, I was nauseous and often faint-
ed due to my pregnancy. I had to take medication to main-
tain the pregnancy, but he didn’t care. He argued with me
constantly, screamed and told me he would leave me, then
went out for hours (at that point we were renting a studio
apartment). I cried and I suffered because I loved him very
much. I tried to be the best wife – I cooked, cleaned, ironed,
but often I didn’t have the strength to press his many shirts.
At the same time I continued my studies. On more than
one occasion, I arrived at the university in tears, because
my husband was constantly abusing me.
Since the beginning of our marriage, he tried to separate
me from my parents, even though they helped us so much:
they bought us food, other necessities, paid for the rent and
were very kind to us.
After the birth of our child the situation became even
worse. My husband has never shown any paternal feel-
ings towards our child. His attitude towards me became
even worse. He kept fighting with me about everything and
threatened to leave me.
About two months after I gave birth, my husband start-
ed beating me. It began with one blow, and then there were
more and more, until finally, he began to torture me. I’m not
able to describe what he did to me. He would scream at me
and beat me terribly. He punched me. He threw me against
the wall, the door. He didn’t care that there was a little baby
in the next room. He hit me so much, that I would lie almost
unconscious on the floor. My entire body was covered with
bruises – my arms, my legs, my back, my neck, even my fin-
gers. He threatened that if I told anyone, I would be sorry.
He made me wear clothes that covered my bruises and for-
bade me to talk to anyone.
We rarely went out with friends, but when we did, I had
to smile and pretend everything was fine. In front of other

108
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 H ERSTORY

people he would call me: “Treasure, my love, sweetheart”. Then we

would go home and he would abuse me again. Sometimes the beat-
ings would be once a month, but usually they happened every week,
or every day.
In the spring of 2006, I started to do my thesis. During that time my
father took leave from work to help me and to take care of my daugh-
ter. I spent the whole day doing research at the university for my the-
sis, and when I returned home in the evening the scenario was always
the same: the fights and beatings. My husband’s rage was growing
and he beat me harder and harder, to show his great displeasure at
me doing my thesis.
Sometime during this period, he beat me up so savagely, that I sus-
tained a nerve injury in the lumbar area. It was so serious that I couldn’t
move. The doctor from the ambulance inquired how it had happened,
but I was afraid to tell the truth, with my husband standing by the bed.
The doctor injected me with a painkiller, and recommended tests in the
hospital. At the hospital, I had an X-ray, which did not detect any bone
damage. They didn’t test me for nerve damage because the doctors did
not know the real reason for the pain. Up to this day, I feel the conse-
quences of those beatings. The entire lower part of my spine is stiff.
In May 2005 we changed apartments. By then, my father had learned
from our neighbors, what was happening in our apartment. The neigh-
bors said that they could hear my husband screaming wildly, and they
could hear me cry. When my father talked to us about these occurrenc-
es, my husband denied everything and I lacked the courage to tell the
truth. Since then, my husband, realizing that people had witnessed his
brutal behavior – (although not completely, because the neighbors had
heard only screams and shrieks, and could not see what my husband
was doing to me) – changed his bullying tactics.
He tried to leave as few traces as possible. He would say horrible
things with a smile on his face. He would insult me and torment me
in almost every sentence and smile ironically. He would tell me that
I’m nobody and worth nothing. When I tried to ignore him, he would
continue until I snapped. He told me he did it on purpose, because he
knew me better that anyone and he knew what to say to make me lose
control. When he succeeded, he would beat me.
What my husband did was degrading to me as a human being. At
the moment, most of what happened is a blur to me, as there were so
many beatings and tortures that I can’t remember each of them indi-
vidually. It is still a shock to me. But I will present some facts that have
occurred.
My husband went from striking and punching to choking me. He
would knock me down, sit on my stomach (he weighed 110 kg), grab

109
 H ERSTORY

my jaw and push my head back while squeezing my throat. He would

twist my arms behind my back, so that I couldn’t defend myself. He
would allow me to scream at him that I hated him and wanted him to
leave, but if I cried for help, he would get angrier and choke me hard-
er. During this he would laugh, clench his teeth and hiss, like a wild
animal. It was obvious that he felt great satisfaction with what he was
doing. My husband used truly Gestapo-like methods of torture. He
could hit me a dozen times in the face so hard that I could not move
my jaw later, without bruising my face. I don’t know how he did it. I
don’t know how it’s possible to beat someone so hard that they can’t
move, leaving hardly any marks.
I didn’t know what to do in this situation, to whom I could turn for
help. My entire body ached, and yet there was hardly any sign that I
had been beaten. I felt helpless. And my husband was growing increas-
ingly brutal. Once, for example, he began to beat me, and when I tried
to defend myself, he tied me up with an electrical cord and began to
kick me in the kidneys, back and legs. He laughed at the same time
and called me a stupid, crazy woman. Often, he said he would have me
institutionalized, especially when I tried to scream for help. He would
push me onto the floor of the kitchen, grab my throat and push my face
into the floor. When I tried to get up, he would hit me in the back and
pin me down using his knee or he would push me against a wall while
choking me. Once, he beat me so badly that I lost my ability to speak for
several days: I was in such a state of shock. He would push me against
the wall for so long, that I would momentarily lose consciousness. He
tormented me repeatedly. He beat me in the most sensitive areas .He
repeatedly struck me and kicked me in the breasts.
I was also forced to have sex. It didn’t matter to him that I didn’t
feel any pleasure. The only thing that was important to him was to
satisfy his animal instinct. I loved him very much, so I tried to endure
it, yet he treated me like an object. I became so disgusted with sex
that I stared to avoid him. For the last 2 years, we’ve slept in separate
beds. That’s when he started to force sex on me. I tried to defend my-
self, but he was too strong and he managed to force me to have inter-
course with him. I felt raped.
When I pleaded with him to leave me alone and told him that I
didn’t want to have sex, he laughed and said that he liked it when I
teased him. I told him, that I wasn’t teasing him, that I really didn’t
want to sleep with him, but he would grab my arms and force him-
self on me. The only thing I felt then was pain and humiliation. I of-
ten cried but he didn’t care. I do not know whether he felt more plea-
sure from the sexual act or from being able to torture me once again.
I think it was the latter.

110
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
 H ERSTORY

My husband repeatedly told me that he would like me to be preg-

nant again, because then he could have sex with me without protec-
tion and whenever he felt like it.
In November 2006, my parents found out that my husband was vi-
olent with me, but I wasn’t able to tell them how much he hurt me. My
father categorically told my husband to stop beating me. He beat me
up on the very same day. He was furious that I had told my parents.
On December 1st, my husband once again beat me up very bad-
ly, and he moved out of the house. After that, he called me repeat-
edly and forced me to meet with him. During these meetings he took
turns telling me that he loved me and insulted me. He mentally tor-
mented me. This cost me a lot of nerves and many sleepless nights.
He demanded that I cut my parents out off my life. During his absence
from home, I became stronger. I agreed to stay with him under cer-
tain conditions. The main condition was that he was never to abuse
me again, neither physically nor mentally. He accepted and signed
my conditions in writing. After that time we spent Christmas with my
grandparents, because I always felt that Christmas is a time for fam-
ily celebration. We went back to living together. At the beginning, my
husband somewhat refrained from his atrocious behavior, but after a
month – the 1st of February, he beat me again. On March 16th, 2007
(the day after our child’s third birthday, which he completely ignored),
he beat me up again. He knocked me down to the floor, sat on my
stomach, twisted my hands behind my back and choked me. When I
tried to scream for help, he pushed a sleeping bag into my mouth. He
hurt me badly.
The next time he resorted to physical violence was just before Eas-
ter. He beat me and choked me on both Good Friday and Easter Sat-
urday. He slammed me against the door, the wall, the wardrobe. Then
he knocked me down and chocked me.
After these beatings I was afraid to stay in the house with him, so
I took my child and parents and we went to my grandparents’ house.
I didn’t give my husband the keys to our apartment, because I was
afraid that he would fly into a rage and destroy our precious belong-
ings. He followed us to my grandparents’ house. On the first day of the
Easter holidays he forced his way into the home of my grandparents,
attacked my father and made a scene. Since that day, I no longer live
with my husband. But he still harasses me with phone calls, threats
and obscenities. Everything he did, he did whilst sober.

111
 Piotr Szumlewicz
The term “labour market flexibility”
appears more and more often in debates
on the labour market and economy. Flex-
ibility is one of the key concepts of mod-
ern system of government; it is an atti-
tude towards the world that permeates
ever more areas of social life.
Many economists maintain that more
flexible labour market is the direct result
of changes in the modern economy and
that it leads to increased efficiency and
competitiveness, lower unemployment
and improved living conditions. This view,
however, has no empirical basis. A good
counterexample here is Poland – a coun-
try with the flexible labour market, but
backward technologically, not competitive
and with high levels of unemployment
and poverty. The flexibilisation of the la-
bour market in Poland has been accompa-
nied by the deterioration of social indica-
tors: rising unemployment, slow increase
112
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Equal
but cheaper
Women’s capitalism
is not good for women
in the minimum wage and decline in un-
ionisation, which currently does not ex-
ceed 15 per cent.
On the other hand, in Sweden, where
employment protection is much stronger
than in Poland, about 80 per cent of work-
ers belong to trade unions. And yet, for
many years Sweden has taken the lead in
the rankings of competitiveness and tech-
nological development: it has a high eco-
nomic growth rate, low unemployment
(long-term almost does not exist), and
high standards of quality of life. So, as we
see, flexibility is not a prerequisite for so-
cio-economic development.
In the industrial era, the production
system introduced by Ford Motor Com-
pany fascinated all: Americans, Soviets
and Swedish Social Democrats. It was
the mixture of uniformity and protective-
ness which introduced a specific rela-
tionship between employers and employ-

ees, as well as between the state and cit-
izens. The company organised the work
process but also other spheres of work-
ers’ lives. Ford’s workers not only creat-
ed the unions, but also often jointly or-
ganised life outside of work and created
bonds of solidarity in many arenas of life.
It was clear that employees have differ-
ent interests from employers. The sys-
tem was based on the institutionalisation
of class conflict in the form of such a tri-
partite committee.
The model based on flexible labour
market dates back to early 1970s, when
the demands of May 68 were appropriated
by the advocates of the new shape of the
capitalist system. The emphasis on cre-
ativity and flexibility appeared originally
as a protest against the industrial econ-
omy, and ultimately was used by rapid-
ly rising neo-liberal orthodoxy. In the new
system, the workforce has dispersed and
class conflicts are presented as irrelevant.
Organisation of work, which was formerly
based on a full-time employment for life,
has assumed increasingly flexible forms.
A new type of economic order required
reductions in employment in large fac-
tories and has lead to the transfer of la-
bour to smaller and more dispersed serv-
ice companies, based on labour contracts
for a definite period and the lack of stable
employment.
After 1968, the model of Ford’s as-
sembly line has been ditched. The new
slogans of self-actualisation, mobility and
creativity exactly hit the needs of post-in-
dustrial capitalists.
The “new order” is primarily con-
cerned with making the best use of work-
ers’ intellectual skills. In other words, one
of the cornerstones of the modern com-
pany is a certain model of human psyche.
The employer seeks to learn and under-
stand the mindset of his workers to make
them subservient to the interests of the
113
Piotr Szumlewicz  

company. Today’s most popular purpose
delivered to employees is therefore the
promise of individual success. Work, al-
legedly, is no longer to be a collection of
mundane activities carried out in accord-
ance with the plan imposed by superi-
ors. It has become an area of individual
self-fulfilment. In this way, group inter-
ests and class conflicts are replaced by
the promise of individual success and the
threat of personal failure.
In the industrial era, the standard
worker was male; he was the represent-
ative of the working class. Women slowly
fought their way to the system dominated
by men. But, when the situation of wom-
en in the European welfare states began
to improve, the whole model of the wel-
fare state started to be questioned. The
new paradigm of state and society open-
ly refers to women and femininity. Flexi-
ble capitalism does not only promise ful-
filment to women, but also promulgates
femininity as one of its main values.
This new approach is particularly evi-
dent in Poland where neo-liberal reforms
were introduced without any doubts and
resulting constraints. In Poland there are
relatively many small firms and more
than one third of them belong to women.
Women are often discharged from large
corporations and forced into self-employ-
ment. Many women run small business-
es, often on the margins of financial via-
bility. Increasing labour market flexibil-
ity and decreasing importance of trade
unions have resulted in the falling wag-
es of many workers and consequently, in
increased poverty. Worse still, since the
beginning of the twenty-first century, the
growth of employment flexibility in Po-
land has become one of the main objec-
tives of successive governments. Apart
from Spain, Poland is a country with the
highest percentage of people employed
for a specified period and it is mostly
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Eq u a l b u t c h e ap e r
 
women who are employed under these
conditions.1 It is also worth noting, that
significantly more women than men work
part-time. In the first quarter of 2009,
11.8% of women and 6.1% of men in Po-
land worked on a part-time basis.2 It is
sometimes a good solution, but it’s usu-
ally linked with lower salaries. In addi-
tion, the wage spread between men and
women, in the case of part-time work is
much greater than in the case of full-
time jobs. According to the data provid-
ed by the European Economic and Social
Committee, women working part-time
earn on average about 60% of what men
earn.3 It turns out that a slight increase in
women’s participation in the labour mar-
ket, which has occurred in recent years,
is partly attributable to a greater number
of persons employed on less favourable
terms.
The new model of capitalism is not
beneficial to workers or small owners, and
particularly not beneficial to women from
both groups. Despite this, in the Polish
public debate, economic transformation is
often presented as women’s success and
the liberation of the long impeded wom-
en’s entrepreneurship.
The praise of women’s entrepreneur-
ship is often supported with essentialists’
claims that modern economy requires fe-
male characteristics and that thanks to
them businesses will operate more effi-
ciently. This rhetoric is very common in
the circles associated with the so called
1
In the first quarter of 2009, 25.7% of em-
ployees were employed on fixed-term – 26.8%
women and 24.7% of men. It is worth noting
that in 1999, only 5.7% of the workers were
employed under these conditions. Economic
activity of the Polish population. First Quarter
2009, GUS, Warsaw 2009.
2
Ibid.
3
M. Mendez-Drozd, The EESC opinion on the pov-
erty among women in Europe (September 2005).
The text written for the portal www.ngo.pl.
114
LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Women’s Congress,4 where women’s en-
trepreneurship has become one of the
main slogans. The initiative is strongly
supported by the Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy.
These topics play important role
in the recently published book enti-
tled Women’s Management Style, writ-
ten by one of the members of the Wom-
en’s Congress Programmatic Council,
Ewa Lisowska. The author writes: “To-
day, women have greater chance to get
a larger share in the management than
before, because they have skills that fit
very well into the new economy. Wom-
en contribute added-value in the form of
contextual thinking and more adequate
perception of customers’ needs.”5 They
meet the requirements of the system
better than men. Whether it is favoura-
ble to most workers, Lisowska says noth-
ing. “Because of the historically shaped
characteristics, women should become
the vanguard of a new managerial cap-
italism.” So, the demand for women’s
work and for women in managerial posi-
tions will grow. Women are already fair-
ly well prepared for this challenge. “They
are better educated and have specific life
experience that helps them to develop
such characteristics as intuition, moti-
vation for cooperation, communication
4
Women’s Congress is an event which took
place in Warsaw, on 20-21 June 2009. The Con-
gress was organized to celebrate two decades
of Polish political and economical transition,
and its aim was to present a systemic change
from the perspective of women. The Congress
attracted many celebrities and leading rep-
resentatives of the media and business. The
participants adopted a number of demands, of
which the most important was the introduction
of parity system to electoral procedure and the
appointment of a Spokeswoman for Women
and Equality. The main theme of the recently
held regional congresses is the liberation of
women’s entrepreneurship.
5
E. Lisowska, Women’s Management Style,
Warsaw 2009, p. 6.

skills and ability to work in teams. They
are also highly perceptive, and are more
inclined to notice people first.”6
According to Lisowska, although wom-
en manage businesses differently, capi-
talist principles remain intact. The prob-
lem is, however, that in the new model of
economy and management, lower-rank-
ing workers will be more subordinated to
the firms for which they work than ever
before. The author argues that “people” –
employees and customers – are the most
important asset of the company, so you
need to know how to reach them effec-
tively to motivate them and maintain good
relations with them, in order to gain their
loyalty and the sense of identification with
the company, its products or services.”7
So, allegedly qualitative change in the
management, boils down to more effec-
tive ways to manipulate employees and
customers. Referring to Lois Frankel,
Lisowska bluntly advises women to adopt
the following strategy on the labour mar-
ket: “First of all, we must acknowledge
that business is a game, so that we must
learn how to compete. To this end, we
need to learn the skills of self-presenta-
tion and self-marketing, we have to make
our superiors aware of our achievements
(to brag about ourselves) and learn to talk
out loud, that we are ready to take the
next challenge.”8 The new approach then
will focus more on competition and moti-
vation for individual success.
At the same time, in this new ap-
proach, the strength of workers will de-
crease, first of all due to the falling rate of
unionisation. In exchange for establishing
more friendly relations between the work-
ers and employers, the former will not re-
ceive any financial benefits. The concept
repeated by various theorists that today’s
6
Ibidem.
7
Ibidem.
8
Ibidem.
115
Piotr Szumlewicz  

economy transforms from vertical man-
agement structures to more flat and flex-
ible networks is a myth. The alleged de-
cline of hierarchical relationships has no
empirical basis. Instead, in the so called
post-industrial era, in most European
countries, workers’ wages and GDP have
grown very slowly while stratification
and unemployment have soared. Besides,
Lisowska argues that attaching much im-
portance to earnings is the hallmark of
a masculine management style.9 So it
seems, that the main purpose of women’s
management style is to strengthen work-
ers’ identification with the company. As
the author acknowledges, in this new ap-
proach to work, “women more effectively
motivate employees.”10
The above outlined approach has been
summarised very well by Harriet Rubin,
who argues that women’s style of man-
agement is based on love, while men’s
– on fear.11 In her opinion, in companies
managed by women, employees have
nothing to fear, conflicts of interests and
fights disappear. Employees must love
their superiors regardless of wages and
working hours. The same idea was ex-
pressed in the message and demands of
the Women’s Congress. There were pan-
els on women in business and the stock
market, but poverty was not considered
worthy of debate. Similarly, the demands
adopted and promulgated by the Con-
gress do not mention poverty or social
exclusion; there were no calls for the re-
form of free health service or the current
pension system, which is very unfavoura-
ble to women. Instead, there was a whole
section on women entrepreneurs and the
Congress demanded the introduction of
flexible forms of employment and flexi-
9
Ibidem.
10
Ibidem.
11
H. Rubin, The Princess, Machiavelli for Women,
New York, 1997.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Eq u a l b u t c h e ap e r
 
ble working time to Polish labour law, as
well as the introduction of lessons of en-
trepreneurship and elements of business
ethics into school curricula. There were
more points in praise of entrepreneur-
ship, while other proposals were limited
to vaguely conceived human rights, ac-
companied by the proposals to meet the
requirements of flexible employment that
harms mainly women.
In other words, it seems that the main
purpose of this “new capitalism” is sim-
ply more efficient exploitation of workers
and total dedication of women entrepre-
neurs who are to be proud of their com-
panies and entirely devote their lives to
their companies, blurring the boundaries
between work time and leisure.
In this way, part of the feminist move-
ment joined in the attack on workers’
rights, including predominantly women’s
rights. Under the noble slogans of wom-
en’s empowerment and emancipation,
further arbitrariness of employers is ad-
vocated. The new patterns of social and
professional prestige undermine such val-
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
ues as stability, trust, egalitarianism and
a commitment to fight for the group in-
terests. Instead, it is individual success,
flexibility, entrepreneurship and selfish-
ness that are strongly promoted. In this
way the energy of many feminist activ-
ists is wasted, and favourable conditions
are created for right wing populists, who
know how to take advantage of the frus-
tration of those women who are neither
creative nor enterprising. Entrepreneur-
ship is not an intrinsic good and prais-
ing it does not strengthen women’s posi-
tion in society. The new propaganda sim-
ply induces them to internalise the inter-
ests of their employers. The new woman
will not fight for higher wages or greater
employment protection. She will aspire to
be a businesswoman and focus on having
their own business rather than a stable
job and salary. Given the deepening so-
cio-economic crisis, the situation of wom-
en in the coming years is likely to worsen.
What’s sadder, a lot seems to indicate that
this antifeminist turn will be taken in the
name of sisterhood and femininity.
 Ewa Majewska
”You will never force people to believe that
something which is not a crime
should be considered a crime, but you can
turn a crime into a legal action.”
K. Marx,
Debates over the wood-theft laws
”Spring looks best in the light of burning
anti-abortion laws.”
A feminist slogan, Warsaw
117
The political
economy of
the ban on
abortion
15 years of anti-
‑abortion legislation
in Poland at a glance
Let us begin from going back to the
Victorian times, the times which brought
the ban on abortion and the most de-
veloped household accountancy. In the
widely known fairy tale Peter Pan, Mr and
Mrs Darling (the parents of Wendy) think
about expanding their family. The Cath-
olic orthodoxy would probably claim that
they start their debate post factum: Mrs
Darling is already pregnant when they
ask themselves whether they are going
”to keep it?”. Their answer is “yes”, they
will ”keep it” and Wendy will be born, but
for me, a Polish woman living in a country
where abortion is almost totally banned,
the most important things happen in the
discussion the Darlings have after asking
their question. They simply start counting
what they can eliminate from their eve-
ryday expenses. When the accountancy
is done, they finally decide that ”they will
keep it” and the story goes further.
This introduction to the Victorian fairy
tale is usually skipped in contemporary il-
lustrated versions of the tale, which in my
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e p o l i t i ca l e co n o my o f t h e b a n o n a b o r t i o n
 
opinion is a symptom of alienation from
the economic reality. The feminist move-
ment should not forget about the reality.
In this text, I will try to outline the eco-
nomic results of anti-abortion law as part
of a wider “anti-abortion governmentali-
ty,” and – although I find ethical approach-
es to abortion very important, I will not re-
fer to them in this article. I will not speak
about ”the choice,” either. In the field of
social theory, individual agency is an im-
portant factor, but all too often we forget
about other layers of social life: about law,
economy, customs and the media – to give
just a few examples. I will therefore re-
fer to Foucault, as the one who theoriz-
es the production of “the social” and the
author of the notion of ”governmentality,”
which describes a more general process of
integrating the common principles in the
shaping of appropriate attitudes and re-
jecting the wrong ones.
I think that the doubtful quality of
what is usually named ”the abortion com-
promise” in Poland consists in the fact
that in the debate on abortion the materi-
al and economical categories were swept
away by a set of solely religious and ethi-
cal arguments. It has to do with an exclu-
sion of what is considered ”female” (the
bodily, everyday, material) for the sake of
what is culturally produced as ”the mas-
culine” (the spiritual, ethical and moral).
In the current debates in Poland, women
are deprived of a vocabulary which could
be realistic, materialistic and connected
to the lives they experience. I am rather
sceptical about medical categories some
women organizations apply to speak about
abortion, and I would not fully embrace
the solely liberal, choice-based narrative
of certain other groups. My perspective
can also be characterised as partial and
reductionist, as I focus on the economic
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
dimension of the abortion ban in Poland,
which has not been examined either by
the feminist groups or theorists. I consid-
er the ban on abortion an important fac-
tor of the social stratification which builds
and supports the economic inequalities
and impoverishes women in particular. I
will refer to Foucault, but always stressing
the economy as a field on which an impor-
tant part of the anti-abortion discourse is
operating, which might not seem obvious
to these Foucauldian thinkers who under-
stand discourse merely as ”the spoken”.
If we try to reverse the typical way
of perceiving the ban on abortion in Po-
land, we can see that our society is not di-
vided into those, who are ’”for” and those
who are ”against” abortion. The division
lies between women who can afford it,
or can get help from friends or relatives
to pay for it, and women who are not in
such a comfortable position. In the second
group, we can also see women who try to
end their pregnancy without sufficient
means, which often results in serious in-
juries or even deaths. There is, however,
another group of women who do not ter-
minate their unwanted pregnancies and
give birth to unplanned children, which
certainly worsens their own economic
status and increases the poorest group in
society. These women might feel guilt for
the poverty their pregnancy brings to the
family, which affects adversely the quali-
ty of their lives and adds to the other bad
consequences of the anti-abortion law.
Being ”for” or ”against” abortion does
not make much sense from this perspec-
tive. Abortion is not something to be ”for”
or ”against”. From economic and social
perspectives, abortion is one of the deter-
mining factors in the process of social di-
vision and an instrument of power rela-
tions. It is about having or not having ac-

cess to those who can afford being ”for”
or ”against”.
There are no studies about the eco-
nomic accessibility of abortion in Po-
land. Almost every year we have at least
one nation-wide survey about what peo-
ple THINK about abortion, and we usu-
ally learn that approximately 50% of the
population would make the laws about
it less restrictive. But – since there are
about 200,000 abortions performed in Po-
land – the ethical question is less impor-
tant for women actually having an abor-
tion than the economic problem of finding
the equivalent of Polish average monthly
salary to pay to a doctor who would per-
form the operation illegally.
The average salary in Poland is about
3,000 PLN (1,000 $ ) per month. This is
not the amount most Polish people actu-
ally earn monthly; on the contrary – the
majority of the population earn less than
that. The fee for illegal abortion varies be-
tween 2,000 and 4,000 PLN. The serv-
ice is broadly advertised in almost every
newspaper in the country. If we try to find
out how many women would actually have
access to abortion, we can see that some
40-60% of the population are excluded
from having access to it, since their in-
comes and/or social situation would make
it hard to obtain/borrow the amount nec-
essary to pay for the operation. These are
women with low or no income, who usu-
ally already have a family with children.
Most of them live in poverty and after giv-
ing birth to another child they are pushed
into even deeper poverty, thus increasing
the poorest section of the population. We
should not think only about the woman
and her newly born child, but also about
other children, her partner and possibly
other members of the household. Their
income per capita drops sharply. Pover-
119
Ewa Majewska  

ty is often followed by violence, crime,
and social discrimination. Domestic vi-
olence often begins or is reinforced by
sudden impoverishment. Some women’s
NGOs in Poland discovered this connec-
tion after large layoffs in industrial cities
like Gdansk or Katowice, although domes-
tic violence is never fully explained by the
economic status. Why not look at the sit-
uation of the family where an unplanned
child brings not only the joys of mother-
hood and love, but also financial crisis in
the household?
If we think about the ban on abortion
from economic perspective, we discover
that speaking about ”choice” can actual-
ly be as misleading as speaking about the
”morality” of it. If we focus on the person-
al experience of a pregnant woman will-
ing to terminate her pregnancy, we will
see that neither “choice” nor “morality”
are her first concerns. First of all, she is
concerned with her own body: changing
and reshaping, and her new sense of self.
There is also the strong feeling of respon-
sibility for the new life, strengthened by
the ”pro-life” narrative which equates a
fetus with a child. There is also her whole
life – a life of a woman, her plans, projects,
wishes and desires, which is questioned
by an unwanted pregnancy. There are re-
lations with others: her partner, family
and parents, but also the relation with the
state which, in the case of Poland, is the
relation of someone who is considering
participating in a crime (under the Polish
penal code women are not liable to penal-
ty; it is only the doctor performing abor-
tion who commits a crime, and the wom-
an might be accused of participating in a
crime). Anyone who ever crossed the le-
gality line knows what it means.
Let me refer to the experience of
Angela Davis. In one of her conference
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Th e p o l i t i ca l e co n o my o f t h e b a n o n a b o r t i o n
 
presentations, she directly mentions the
strange feeling she used to have that ”the
law were going to get me.”1 Breaking the
law is something that makes most women
feel uncomfortable. Gender socialization
is at work here, and strengthens the fears
and doubts of women who would actual-
ly perform abortion. The life comfort of
these women is at stake here and in many
cases that is much more important than
the ethical doubts women might have to-
ward abortion itself.
Women who have had an abortion of-
ten suffer from doubts about their moral-
ity and social conduct. Their pain has be-
come stronger with the strengthening of
the ”pro-life” discourse in Poland. It is as-
tonishing, however, how fast and how far
the change has gone. Some thirty years
ago every second or third woman had an
abortion. At that time, no one seriously
considered the “unborn life” to be worth
legal protection. Now it is entirely differ-
ent. The notion of child is applied to fetus
without any hesitation. The guilt many
women feel about their unlawful behav-
iour and the killing of something they do
not consider a child, but many people do,
should also be taken into account as the
cost of anti-abortion law.
There are other costs, too. Some
women face serious health problems after
abortions performed in bad conditions or
without proper assistance by specialized
medical staff. Some women die. We do
not have the relevant statistics, but even
if the number of deaths is low, the prob-
lem is still serious as these are definite-
ly the most dramatic consequences of the
anti-abortion legislation in Poland.
Another topic that should be taken
into account is the limited availability of
contraceptives that together with the ban
on abortion create conditions in which
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Polish women may or may not enjoy their
right to decide freely on the number and
spacing of their children. Contraceptives
should be available and cheap, which is
not the case in Poland. Contraceptives are
not subsidized (while two equivalents of
Viagra are) and their prices are too high
for many women. The ”day-after” pill is
legal but very difficult to buy. In order to
buy it, you need a prescription, so you
have to visit a doctor, which makes it two
or three times more expensive ( 150 +
70 equals 220 zlotys – about 80 $). More-
over, finding a doctor who would give a
prescription for this medicament is not so
easy, since for some of them the ”day-af-
ter” pill is just the same thing as abortion.
And even those few lucky women who
find a doctor and can afford to pay for the
prescription and for the pill, still may face
problems, as there are pharmacies whose
owners deliberately do not sell the ”day-
after pill.” (The author of these words was
once literally thrown out of a pharmacy
after asking about this pill).
Sexual education practically does not
exist in Polish schools, but nearly all chil-
dren attend religious instruction, during
which they are shown the movie called
Silent Scream, presented as ”documenta-
ry,” in which the fetus in the latest stages
of pregnancy is presented as being 6-12
weeks old. The images imprinted in the
minds of practically all young people in
Poland have a very strong influence, not
only on the way they perceive abortion,
but also on how they perceive and judge
women who decide to terminate their
pregnancy.
Another consequence of religious in-
doctrination and the lack of sexual educa-
tion is that girls and women are not sup-
ported in their demands for reproductive
rights by men. Some 30% women in Po-

land declare that their partners do not like
to use condoms, which means that in most
cases the responsibility and the costs of
contraceptives becomes another aspect of
”the woman’s work” (which is never done,
as Tracy Chapman nicely puts it in one of
her songs).
The production of “the social” in the
country where abortion is illegal, is addi-
tionally influenced by the cases of women
who demand legal abortion and who are
not only denied it, but also accused of be-
ing “murderers of children.” The two best
known cases of this kind of oppression are:
Alicja Tysiąc, the woman who won her
case in the Human Rights Court in Stras-
bourg (the pregnancy was endangering
her health) and ”Agata” (this is a media-
given name) – a 14 years old girl who de-
manded abortion after being raped. Both
women were attacked by the right-wing,
ultra-Catholic media as morally despica-
ble and sinful. Both cases definitely make
other women reluctant to think of abor-
tion, even in cases when they could legal-
ly claim access to it: in the case of rape, a
danger to life or health of the woman, or
in the case of incurable health damage to
the foetus, abortion is theoretically legal
in Poland.
With the anti-abortion law and prac-
tices the poorest get even poorer, most-
ly women. The noisy anti-abortion dis-
course has added shame, guilt and pain
to this difficult experience. If we look at
the ban on abortion as an important ele-
ment of governmentality, we may under-
stand what Foucault meant by discourse –
it is not only “the spoken,” but a set of mi-
cro-practices that create an image of so-
cial reproduction.
The book titled Contemporary Wom-
en’s Hell provides the shortest possible
description of the consequences of the
121
Ewa Majewska  

ban on abortion in Poland. It contains
the biographies of women who have had
an abortion, legally or illegally. The sto-
ries are extremely touching. When they
are read out loud in public during annual
public readings, they arouse strong emo-
tions in the audience. After hearing them
and reading more stories described by a
feminist author and journalist Kazimiera
Szczuka in her book Silence of the Lambs,
one has the impression that nothing has
changed since the times before the Sec-
ond World War, when Wilhelm Reich in
Germany, and Irena Krzywicka and Ta-
deusz Boy-Żeleński in Poland, were fight-
ing against the anti-abortion nonsense.
A question we can and should ask to-
day is what happened with all 1,500,000
signatures put by Polish people under an
appeal for a pro-choice law at the begin-
ning of the 1990s? Are there still people
in Poland who would support a more dem-
ocratic and more secular law? Is there any
way to skip the ”for abortion”/”against
abortion” dispute and focus on making
the choice free? Shouldn’t we focus on
the economic and material consequenc-
es of the current anti-abortion law and on
effects of the oppressive discourse of re-
ligious fundamentalists?! If the current-
ly existing law on abortion is a ”compro-
mise”, as it is commonly referred to by
Polish politicians, it is a compromise to
make the poorest even poorer, with a spe-
cial emphasis on women, and not a com-
promise on abortion. The effect of gener-
ating poverty, which is a particularly im-
portant consequence of the ban on abor-
tion, and it strongly exacerbates the op-
pression women face because of pro-life
discourse. Both provide us with the tools
to understand the anti-abortion govern-
mentality based on the production of pov-
erty-stricken outlaws.
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Małgorzata Tarasiewicz
In June 2009, Poland celebrated 20
years of independence from the commu-
nist regime. The democratic changes have
given the Poles lots of new opportunities
and changed the perception of many well
established social, political and cultur-
al paradigms. But one thing remains par-
ticularly resistant to change, namely the
stereotypes concerning women’s social
roles and the creation of new possibilities
for women to enter the area of public and
political life.
As regards political participation, sex-
ists prejudices govern political parties, the
media and decision making bodies. There
is no encouragement to increase women’s
participation in public life and no encour-
agement to take over leadership roles and
positions. As a result, in 2009 women ac-
count for 20 only percent of Sejm (lower
chamber of Polish Parliament) members
and for mere 8 percent of Senate (upper
chamber of Polish Parliament) members.
In the lower chamber, out of 460 seats,
only 93 are taken by women (19.7%) – 5%
less than after the previous election. The
situation in the upper chamber is similar
– out of one hundred seats only 9 belong
to women. (Half the number of seats that
women had after previous elections).
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
Polish women
break the glass
ceiling
The Civic Platform, the winning par-
ty in the 2007 parliamentary election in
Poland, made a lot of promises to Polish
people. They undertook to lower taxes,
abolish red tape barriers for business and
speed up economic growth. They did not
promise anything in particular to wom-
en, but many women voted for the party
of Donald Tusk. To be more precise, they
voted not so much for Tusk, as against the
infamous Kaczynski “twins”.
As a result, according to Magdalena
Środa, a feminist and a former Plenipotenti-
ary for Equal Status of Women and Men, to-
day’s’ Poland is governed by the “most an-
ti-women and anti-feminist party­, charac-
terized by a complete lack of sensitiveness
to gender issues, even amongst its women
members. (…) They would do anything not
to be suspected of feminism” – said Środa.
In the new government, women play a
much less important role than before. Julia
Pitera, one of the leading figures of the rul-
ing Civic Platform says that there is “noth-
ing strange in the fact that men lead the
most important ministries because they are
better fit for such positions.” According to
Pitera, “the reason for that is a difference
between women’s and men’s brains”. Out
of 209 new deputies of Civic Platform, only

46 are women. The reason for that can be
the fact that there were few women leading
the voting lists of the Civic Platform in the
last elections – just 5 women on 41 lists.
Women’s groups asked the Prime Min-
ister several times to appoint the Plenipo-
tentiary for Equal Status for Women and
Men and to meet them to discuss wom-
en’s rights. Instead, at one of the first ses-
sions of the Parliament, the ruling par-
ty put forward a motion to liquidate the
Parliamentary Committee for Family and
Women’s Rights. According to the ruling
party, there was not enough room in the
parliamentary building to keep the Com-
mittee. Stefan Niesiołowski, the Deputy
Speaker of the Parliament and an influen-
tial Civic Platform politician said: “Mem-
bers of Parliament do not have time for
nonsense and fictitious problems”.
Because of the strong pressure from
the women’s groups who went to Brus-
sels to meet Commissioner Vladimir Spid-
la and discuss with him the lack of equal-
ity institutions in Poland (which is re-
quired by the European Union directives),
Elżbieta Radziszewska was appointed the
new Plenipotentiary for Equal Opportuni-
ties. Unfortunately, the new Plenipotenti-
ary very soon expressed her lack of inter-
est in women’s issues and added that she
was against gender parity. She said, “I’m
against fixed parities. We should educate
women and promote women, so that they
start to believe in themselves and that
men start to believe in them. The effect
will be more lasting and there will be no
nasty surprises like in France or Slovenia,
where election list parity is law and yet
fewer women get elected than in Poland.”
At the same time, there are many
burning issues influencing women’s lives.
Abortion remains illegal in Poland, and
Civic Platform government certainly is not
going to change this. Right before being
sworn in, the future government partic-
123
Małgor zata Tarasiewicz  

ipated in a holy mass which was a clear
sign to the public that the Catholic Church
will remain important partner of the new
government. Civic Platform’s electoral
slogan was “For a better living. For Every-
one!” With time, it has become more and
more clear that that they did not mean
everyone. Certainly not for women.
As regards gender based discrimina-
tion, Poland still has many steps to take to
improve the situation. The country is still
facing the problem of the so called ‘’glass
ceiling’’ in Polish public life and labour
market where women continue to occupy
lower positions and earn less than men.
Anyway, thanks to the gradual processes
initiated by political and economic tran-
sition, Polish membership in the EU and
activism of Polish women organizations,
a new kind of women has emerged un-
der changing economic conditions; wom-
en with managerial and political skills, ca-
pable of taking leadership positions, mak-
ing decisions and competing with male
colleagues on an equal footing.
The experience of many countries
show that the actions taken in favour of
women are most effective, if there exists a
cooperation between politicians and wom-
en’s NGOs. Such cooperation has been in-
itiated in several regions in Poland. In Po-
merania1, for example, a group consisting
of women MPs, NGO activists and schol-
ars has been set up. Thanks to the initia-
tive of the group, a regional Plenipotenti-
ary for Equal Opportunities has been ap-
pointed by the local government.
At the national level, recent devel-
opments have been more promising too.
After the so called Women’s Congress,
which took place in June 2009, the is-
sue of gender parity has again made its
1
Pomerania (German: Pommern, Polish: Po-
morze, Latin: Pomerania or Pomorania) is a his-
torical region on the south shore of the Baltic
Sea. The author
Part II: POLAND – Women’s Hell on the eastern EU border
 Po l i s h wo m e n b re a k t h e g l a s s ce i l i n g
 
way to the mainstream political debate.
At present, several NGOs collect signa-
tures under a “Bill on Parity” they are go-
ing to submit to the Parliament. “Until re-
cently, women have been excluded from
politics, which has been considered an ac-
tivity proper only for men. Finnish femi-
nists have calculated that it would take 90
years for this exclusion to disappear natu-
rally. Gender parity is intended to acceler-
ate this process”, said  Magdalena Środa,
the co-organizer of the Congress.
In addition to that, there is a gradu-
al shift in Polish society regarding wom-
en’s position in public life. Recently, the
results of an opinion poll on women’s par-
ticipation in politics in Poland have shown
that as many as 70 percent of women and
52 percent of men favour gender parity in
parties’ election lists. Interestingly, sup-
port for parity is higher among respond-
ents with primary and vocational educa-
tion (72 and 63 percent respectively) than
among those with secondary or tertiary
education (59 and 42 percent). The idea
is supported by more people in rural areas
(64 percent of respondents in favour) than
in the cities (57 percent).
This last figure is not surprising, as in
Poland, there are more women than men
in local structures of power. In many plac-
es, rural inhabitants have had many op-
portunities to observe that women can do
very well when elected to local authori-
ties. Hence, they are more eager to sup-
port women in politics.
Some decisions have already been
made. Minister of Science, Barbara Kudry-
cka, has already pledged to introduce par-
ity in academic bodies, including the State
Accreditation Committee and the Central
Committee for Academic Degrees and Ti-
tles. Initially, 10 percent of seats will be
guaranteed for women, to then rise to 30
percent. The Minister got in touch with the
Network of East-West Women (NEWW) to
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LAW & GENDER 2 0 0 9 / 2 010
learn more about the results of the gender
budgeting in science.2
The idea of parity, however, remains
controversial, and not only among men.
For example, fifteen women journalists
and scholars published an open letter that
reads, “We oppose the introduction of
50-percent gender parity in parliament,
government, science. Instead of promot-
ing women, such a regulation would sug-
gest that women are not talented and en-
trepreneurial enough to achieve success
on their own, without outside support.”
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk also
spoke on the issue. Commenting on the
results of Gazeta Wyborcza’s presidential
preferences poll showing him getting de-
feated in the second round by ex-first wife
Jolanta Kwaśniewska, he said, “In the face
of these results, we cannot ignore signals
that women in Poland no longer want to
play a passive role. Women’s presence in
public life, in politics, has to increase.”
Since May 2004, when Poland became
a member of the European Union, there
has been some progress in the field of
gender equality, trafficking in women and
gender discrimination in the workplace
but still a lot needs to be done in many
arenas, including equal representation of
women and men in decision-making bod-
ies. As it was declared in the European
Women’s Lobby 50/50 campaign on par-
ity in the EU, “Gender parity is not only
a question of democracy, but it will also
help in putting women’s rights issues on
the political agenda”.
2
NEWW was involved in a project “Gender
Budgeting as an Instrument for Managing Sci-
entific Organisations to Promote Equal Oppor-
tunities for Women and Men – With the Example
of Universities”, implemented in cooperation
with Frauenakademie München, Sozialwissen-
schaftliches Institut München and Department
of Economics of the Institute for Institutional
and Heterodox Economics in Vienna.