Family is a concept of community of at least two persons, who are supposed to live together to ensure a feeling of safety, belonging, help, raising children, and easier solving of everyday problems. For a long time, domestic violence was considered a private domestic problem, in which society should not interfere. With the influence of various movements, primarily feminist, this position had changed, leading people to the realisation that domestic violence is a social, and not purely a private problem. On this basis, Slovene legislation was also amended. In 2008, domestic violence was criminalised as a distinct criminal offence in Article 191 of the Criminal Code. The criminalisation allowed a review of the penalties for such criminal offences. By analysing the data collected by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, we find that the most common penalty between 2008 and 2015 was a suspended sentence. Review of the purpose of penalties and comparison to US studies show that a suspended sentence by itself is not sufficient, and that perpetrators of this criminal offence require the help of qualified experts in order to ensure rehabilitation and prevent recidivism.
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