Civil society advocacy and the diffusion of violence against women norms: An analysis of the International Violence Against Women Act

This article analyzes the advocacy campaign and the policy process surrounding the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) in the United States and explains the mobilization of this campaign and its political outcomes to date. The main question the article explores is: How can we interpret the effort by advocacy groups in the United States to use the domestic political process to advance their international goals? The findings suggest that the literature on norm and policy diffusion as well as the structure of political opportunities and framing, both variables identified by social movement theorists, can help us understand the I-VAWA campaign and its strategies and achievements to date. The article interprets the policy process surrounding I-VAWA as an effort by rooted cosmopolitans to use favorable domestic political opportunities and strategic framing to diffuse international norms and standards.