Violence against Women and Proposal for the Framework Act on Prevention of Violence against Women

Types of violence against women are wide and varied. Among various types of violence, the current acts are “segmentally” legislated on domestic violence, sexual violence, and prostitution, and are divided into legislation to punish perpetrators and protect victims. The need for an integrated support system for victims of violence against women and comprehensive legislation continued, and after intense debate in our society, the 「Framework Act on Prevention of Violence Against Women」 was enacted in December 2018 and implemented in 2019. The Act is a comprehensive act that comprehensively regulates violence against women, which had previously been individually regulated and takes into consideration the expansion of violence against women by reflecting a new type of violence against women. It clarifies the responsibility of the state for the prevention of violence against women and protection and support for victims, stipulates the promotion of violence against women policies, and supports victims of violence against women by reflecting the specificity of violence against women and establishing consistent statistics with the victim support system. It was intended to increase the effectiveness of the policy. In the process of enacting this Act, there was a conflict of opinions for and against it, and discussions on the need for revision are still being conducted. This paper aims to propose a supplement to the current 「Framework Act on Prevention of Violence Against Women」, and to this end, introduces a legislative example of Spain, which may be unfamiliar to us. Spain has enacted and implemented the 「Organic Act 1/2004 of 28 December on Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence」( 「Ley Orgánica 1/2004, de 28 de diciembre, de Medidas de Proteccióon Integral contra la Violencia de Género」). In Spain, this Act was enacted under the awareness that domestic violence was frequent in the past, that women's rights, which had been neglected, should be strongly protected through legislation, and that an equal power structure between men and women should be formed. This Act is for responding to cases of gender violence, reporting to the police after an incident occurs, providing medical support to victims, and providing social welfare services, women's shelters, and counseling services. In September 2022, Spain also made amendments to the Criminal Code that strengthened the punishment of sexual violence crimes and the protection of victims. Examining Spain's legislative examples can give an idea for revising or responding to our 「Framework Act on Prevention of Violence Against Women」. In particular, the victim protection order system is worth introducing in the 「Framework Act on Prevention of Violence Against Women」. This paper reviews the rights of victims of violence against women, types of violence against women, legislative examples related to support for violence against women in Spain, and major contents, criticisms of the current 「Framework Act on Prevention of Violence Against Women」 and measures for improvement which were sought. This paper emphasizes efforts to make up for deficiencies through the expansion of the definition of violence against women and victims of violence against women, the clarification of secondary victim damage terms, the expansion of prohibition of disadvantageous treatment, and the establishment and revision of provisions.