Feminist politics and framing contests: Domestic violence policy in Scotland and Wales

Abstract

Devolution in the UK in the 1990s resulted in newly gendered political opportunity structures for feminists seeking to influence the political agenda and pursue ‘women-friendly’ policy outcomes. There is, however, little work that compares jurisdictions across the UK. This paper provides a preliminary comparison of the politics of a classic feminist issue – domestic violence – in Scotland and Wales. We examine how, and with what effect, devolution has opened up opportunities to promote feminist frames and policy preferences. Despite some key similarities in Scotland and Wales, notably, high numbers of female parliamentarians, well-established refuge movement organizations and opportunities presented by aspirations for a new and more open politics, there are significant differences with respect to timing, framing and policy approaches in each place. In particular, we argue that asymmetric devolution has created different ‘devolution effects’ which in turn shape and constrain framing contests with different outcomes for feminist politics and for women.