Intimate Partner Violence and the State

I defend a security-based account of how the state should address intimate partner violence. Protection of basic security against violence must have a high priority in liberalism. Violence in intimate relationships is a widespread threat to security; indeed, intimate relationships create vulnerabilities to violence and hence involve security risks. While it is often assumed that the criminal justice system protects security, in the case of intimate partner violence, there are distinctive barriers to protecting security. I argue that interventions in intimate relationships to address intimate partner violence are required on grounds of security. I respond to objections that such interventions are paternalistic and illiberal. Not only are such interventions justifiable, they are required by justice to protect basic security – entailing that such interventions have equal priority as securing basic liberties. Taking intimate partner violence as the paradigm security threat compels us to rethink how we understand security and its protection.