Violence against women in all its forms is the most shameful violation of human rights. It is a violation that continues to increase over the years despite the existence of international and national laws. Morocco is one of the countries in the world that suffers from this discrimination against women. To deal with this phenomenon, national texts intervene to establish a legal framework that respects the principle of equality between women and men such as the Constitution of 2011, The Family Code (“Moudawana”) of 2004, and the adoption in 2016 of Law No. 27-14 on the fight against human trafficking, etc. In 2018, Law No. 103-13 related to the fight against violence towards women was promulgated. It is a law which constitutes a real legislative innovation in Morocco since it will reduce or even stop a certain number of abuses experienced by women. This is what leads us to ask ourselves, is Law No. 103-13 really going to allow us to abolish the segregation between men and women? And would this law allow us to fight against all kinds of violations against women?

Domestic homicide is the most serious type of violence in a marital relationship, which is punishable by the death penalty as retaliation (Qisas) according to the Penal Code of Iran. The present paper analyzes why a woman commits this crime (the killing of her husband), examining the killer’s status in a marital relationship. Data show that the killers had been victims of domestic violence for 10–25 years. In other words, domestic homicide has a direct relationship with the killer being victimized by domestic violence, including physical (assault and battery), mental (insult and obscenity), sexual and sometimes financial violence that may result from addiction. The most important reason for domestic homicide is the failure to provide legal and social protection for women. This incites hatred for the husband, which arises from repeated victimization in a coercive relationship with the husband. These women cannot end this coercive relationship because of insufficient or unavailable legal, social or family protection. Moreover, the process of divorce for a woman in Iran is quite complex. This article also examines the potential defense of mental capacity and self-defense and its place in the Iranian penal code. Based on this research, this article argues for the need for the legislature to review the death penalty for this kind of crime and to consider other possible responses to such murders.

The United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders treats domestic violence as a serious offence that affects groups of vulnerable populations, such as children, women and ethnic minorities. In Indonesia, the National Commission on Violence Against Women notes that in 2015 alone, there are recorded reports of 11,207 cases of domestic violence and 60% of those cases are violence against spouses, especially wives. However, many studies that have been done on domestic violence tend to take an indirect route towards reformation in the criminal justice system. This study tries to address some major obstacles to establish a more responsive criminal justice system in handling domestic violence cases. Through a qualitative analysis with statute and case approaches of Indonesian court judgements, this study analyses the system’s way of protecting/neglecting victims’ rights. There are four main obstacles to be discussed. First, many judges still regard domestic violence as a less serious offence, especially in regard to psychological intimidation. Second, punishment for the perpretators is quite moderate compared with the sufferings of the victims. Third, victims are only regarded in court as witnesses and denied their rights as victims. Fourth, there is a kind of social resistance from the community to report domestic violence as a crime. In sum, these obstacles illustrate a culture of neglect that is continuously reinforced by the community and the criminal justice system towards the victims’ physical and mental sufferings in the case of domestic violence.