Violence against Women as a Structural Risk: Responding through Prevention with Due Diligence

Situations of crises such as the Covid–19 pandemic expose the fissures in society, both domestic and global. Using violence against women as an example, the paper shows how structural risks amplify during crises and how the concept of due diligence can be used to address these risks. By focusing on prevention, it analyses the existing approaches towards due diligence in the context of violence against women by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women. The paper looks at how these mechanisms have considered the invocation and applicability of the duty of prevention with due diligence as well as the measures that states need to take to discharge such a duty. It concludes with a reflection on what can be done to further strengthen the arguments of the mechanisms analysed in this paper to utilise the full potential of due diligence concerning state obligations towards the prevention of violence against women.