Preventing and combating domestic violence: international standards and their implementation in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

The article presents the results of scientific research on a comprehensive analysis of international standards for the protection of the rights of victims of domestic violence, and also establishes the patterns of their use in the long-term practice of the European Court of Human Rights. It has been established that before 1975, which was named the UN General Assembly’s Year of Women, there were no direct references to the phenomenon of domestic violence in international documents. For example, the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights do not use the concept of domestic violence, while a number of articles, which are characterised by a high degree of generalisation interpret the right to life, liberty and security of person, the prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to equality before the law, and that motherhood and childhood entitle the child to special care and assistance. It was only with the first-ever World Conference on Women that international law included provisions relating exclusively to the legal status of women and children as victims of violence, including within their own families. It is established that there are differences in various international documents as to whether violence against women should be considered a form of discrimination in itself. For the purpose of comparative analysis, the authors of the article studied the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence of 11.05.2011 (hereinafter - the Istanbul Convention), as well as Resolution 2003/45 adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee on 23.01.2003. The authors of the article also emphasised that in the context of domestic violence, the ECHR case law is quite diverse, given that this violation can be interpreted in the context of several articles of the Convention. Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture), as well as Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.