This master's thesis examines domestic violence as a widespread social problem and
analyzes the effectiveness of police restraining orders in protecting victims. The thesis is
based on a feminist conceptual framework that views domestic violence as a symptom of
underlying societal patriarchal inequality. Such a view allows us to approach domestic
violence not just as an individual problem, but as a global phenomenon rooted in gender
inequality and structural power inequalities. Police restraining orders, while necessary and
often useful as a temporary solution, cannot be effective in the long term if they are not based
on an understanding of the deeper causes of violence. Effectiveness in a »broader« sense, as
an effort to reduce violence in society, therefore depends on our ability as a society to
transform deeply entrenched patriarchal norms, values and gender roles, and to provide the
systemic support and ideological framework to enable both men and women to access
education and transformation. The restraining order is therefore not only a measure but also
a metaphor for the wider social project of educating and transforming men, which is the key
to real, sustainable change in the fight against domestic violence.
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