Legal Responses to Domestic Violence: Global Insights for Policy and Practice

This policy brief examines the global landscape of domestic violence legislation and its effectiveness in reducing intimate partner violence, drawing on data from 190 countries spanning 1980 to 2024. The brief presents a problem statement on the persistent challenge of domestic violence worldwide, followed by key findings demonstrating that dedicated DV laws and criminal code provisions significantly correlate with lower IPV prevalence, while also revealing that wealthier nations adopted such legislation decades before lower-income countries. It explores the implications of these disparities for public health and gender equality, emphasising that the type and comprehensiveness of legal frameworks matter substantially. The brief concludes with evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, including prioritising DV-specific legislation, strengthening enforcement mechanisms, and supporting accelerated legal reforms in developing regions to close the global protection gap.