가정폭력에 대한 비판적 성찰: 젠더폭력 개념을 중심으로

Critical Examination of Domestic Violence: Based on the Notion of Gender Based Violence

&nbsp;&nbsp;This article intends to be a critical examination of the notion of &quot;family violence&quot; both explicitly and implicitly employed in the law. Particularly it introduces the idea of ‘gender violence’ that has been established in the international human rights discourse especially after Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 1993(hereafter Declaration). The article examines related international human rights norms such as Declaration, UN Model Legislation on Domestic Violence, and Report documented at UN Commission on Human Rights on the one hand. On the other hand, it analyzes the testimonies of the domestic violence victims. Methodologically, the former provides the legal and normative ground of this work, the latter the empirical and social ground.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;After examination, the study reaches to the findings as follows: Firstly, domestic violence is not so much an individual deviance as social behavior based upon the family structure where the men and women, younger and older are hierarchically differently located. The ideology that it is always better keeping the family than being out of it is also critical. The domestic violence policy ought to correct family institution as well as family ideology in the society.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Secondly, the current law tends to treat the domestic violence as a violence merely occurred in the domestic setting. In other words, without pinning down the unique nature of domestic violence, domestic violence in the law only designates the ‘place’ of violence. Due to the legal, economical, and emotional respects of the family, domestic violence has the nature of continuity, complexity, and invisibility.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Thirdly, in relation to the second, it seems that ‘violence’ rather ‘domesticity’ has been mattered in the pre-existing statutes. Domestic violence has been almost solely regulated by the criminal codes in Korea. Other than the punishment by penal codes, there are many aspects that will be appropriately treated by the civil codes. Particularly, family law about divorce, custody, and division of property ought to accommodate domestic violence in its stipulations. Introduction of legal separation and economic support of the victim (and their family) will be the task for the future legislation of family law. It will not only have the reparative effects on victim but also, and more importantly, have the preventive effect against domestic violence.