With all Due Deliberate Care: Using International Law and the Federal Violence against Women Act to Locate the Contours of State Responsibility for Violence Against Mothers in the Age of Deshaney

Abstract:     
Using the federal Violence Against Women Act, Miccio makes the case that the State now owes battered women and affirmative duty of care. She devises a theory, building upon international law, thereby doing an end-run around the Deshaney case. In this article, Miccio weaves narrative into legal and poltical theory as she makes a strong case that VAWA may in fact create the basis for claims against the state when the state fails to protect battered mothers. This article was used by the Battered Mother's Testimony Project in Massachuesetts and cited by the 6th Cir. Court of Appeals in a case involving a battered women's claim for political asylum.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 46

Accepted Paper Series