Law Commons^™

Violence perpetrated against women by intimate partners is a major societal problem and the dangers associated with domestic violence are well documented in the literature. This article discusses the availability of redress under the state-created danger doctrine for women who have suffered domestic violence in the hands of intimate partners. The United States Supreme Court in Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services held that a state has no duty to protect its citizens from violence perpetrated by third parties. The state-created danger doctrine, which is an exception to the Deshaney rule, allows women who have suffered domestic violence …