The Interplay between States and Movements on Violence Against Women. Comparative Perspectives in Sociology and Policy Analysis

Abstract

In the last 25 years, women’s movements, governments and international bodies have been active in awareness-raising on and reduction of violence against women (VAW). The main aim of this issue is to providean overview of comparative perspectivesof policies and services, which offer an innovative point of view to evaluate action. A comparative outlook on VAW initiatives can show acceleration or deceleration in decision-making, proliferation or scarcity of regulations, high or low effectiveness of plans and services in reaching set goals, and reasons why this is the case. The four articles of this issue present original research conducted on firearm policy on a global scale, comparative analysis of services in Italy, accessibility of VAW services in Israel and perceptions of VAW after film screening in Tunisia. The articles illustrate the level of interest that elicited by VAW, the complexities of the analysis and the local and global actors that play a role in action against this global problem.