Twenty-Two Years After the Passage of VAWA: A Comparative Case Study on Domestic Violence

• In Event: Intimate Partner Violence: Methodological Considerations and Innovations

Abstract

This paper analyzes how the Violent Against Women Act (VAWA) has influenced legal practices globally by comparing court opinions in the United States with those in China regarding battered women who kill. Half of the cases from both sides were decided before the passage of VAWA and the other half ten years after the adoption of VAWA. The paper thoroughly analyzes the languages used and the rationales reflected in the court opinions, especially with regard to battered women's right to self-defense. The paper finds that, regardless of political and legal cultural differences between the two countries, battered women face similar difficulties in mobilizing VAWA in both countries. This study concludes with four obstacles feminist lawyers have encountered in the past 22 years after the passage of VAWA. It contributes to the existing intimate partner violence literature by providing detailed accounts of the lived experiences of battered women as documented in written court opinions. It complements the literature of political movement co-optation by offering insights into the compromises feminists make in the courtroom. The comparison between the two countries demystifies the cultural defense used by some batterers in intimate partner violence cases.

Author

• Fei Yang, University of California, Irvine