Towards a Transformative Conceptualisation of Violence Against Women - A Critical Frame Analysis of Council of Europe Discourse on Violence Against Women

Much academic attention has been devoted to violence against women (VAW) in Europe and research has focused on the mounting policy reform initiatives and capacity building strategies in the EU. Council of Europe initiatives in this area have, surprisingly, by contrast, remained under-researched. This paper seeks to fill the gap in the literature by engaging in an examination and critique of the ways in which the Council of Europe has incorporated and framed VAW within various legal and policy initiatives. It will employ a methodology of critical frame analysis as theorised by the literature on social movements, and anti-essentialist critiques within feminist literature to ask: how VAW is problematised; what solutions are offered; where they are located; to what extent they are gendered; and who has a voice in these policy and legal texts.