Domestic abuse is a persistent global health and social problem with far reaching consequences at both an individual and a societal level. Internationally, significant progress has been made in addressing domestic abuse and responses to the problem have evolved rapidly in recent years. However, considerable challenges still exist across a range of jurisdictions in terms of how to define, conceptualise, prevent and respond to domestic abuse.The Scottish Parliament has developed a distinctive approach to defining and addressing domestic abuse, informed by a history of feminist activism, and has adopted a gendered definition of domestic abuse not shared in other parts of the UK. This approach explicitly positions domestic abuse as both a cause and consequence of gender inequality. In Scotland, domestic abuse is therefore addressed within an equalities framework. Whilst this approach is underpinned by international treaties shared by other countries, Scotland's approach is considered to be particularly progressive.By illustrating contemporary research and practice in Scotland, and situating this evidence within an international context, this volume provides a valuable source of national and international knowledge for those working and studying across a broad range of sectors, including health, education, housing, social work, criminal justice, law and politics. A feminist theoretical perspective, which recognises domestic abuse as a function of gendered inequalities, is adopted as a framework for understanding the research evidence and practices discussed throughout the book.

This brief maps the available data augmented by expert interviews on the impact of the Covid-19 measures on DV in eight European Member States during the first lock-down. The volume addresses an on-going situation, additionally complicated by renewed lockdown restrictions during autumn and early winter 2020. It assesses the assumptions of an imminent wave of domestic violence against reliable data from crime statistics, surveys, and various institutions responding to domestic violence. Collecting partner country reports from Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Scotland and Slovenia, it demonstrates the effects that lockdown measures starting March 2020 had on reported DV incidents. It considers the differences between each country with respect to policing, legal systems, social and cultural factors and highlights best practices to prevent conditions resulting from Covid-19 lockdown undermining victims' security and frontline responders' capacities to provide services and prevent domestic violence.