While domestic violence is becoming an increasingly prominent topic in public discourse, this does not mean that it is fully understood. On the contrary. It was this observation that led to the creation of the biennial conference of the Association Famille & Droit, co-chaired by Professor Géraldine Mathieu and Professor Yves-Henri Leleu, which brings together family law professors from French-speaking universities in Belgium. Organized with the support of the “Children’s Rights” Unit at the Vulnerabilities & Societies (V&S) Center at UNamur and the SMAJ (Marche Service for Assistance to Litigants), it brought together 230 researchers, judges, lawyers, psychologists, and practitioners united by a shared conviction: to better understand a complex phenomenon in order to respond to it more effectively. This collective reflection led to the publication of the anthology *Intrafamilial Violence: Understanding, Identifying, and Taking Action: An Interdisciplinary and Systemic Approach*, published by Larcier-Intersentia and edited by Professor Géraldine Mathieu.

“There are topics that a society can never discuss too much, as long as it continues to learn and question itself,” says Géraldine Mathieu. One of the central themes of the conference and the book is precisely the call to “have the courage to be nuanced—not to downplay violence, but to better understand situations and develop more appropriate responses.”

Understand, name, act: these three verbs structure the book just as they structured the conference. Three verbs that, according to the professor, “emerged naturally,” as they reflect both an ethical and an intellectual imperative in the face of realities that “defy simplistic explanations.”

One of the book’s major contributions is that it places the concept of coercive control at the heart of its analysis. “It invites us to shift our perspective,” explains Géraldine Mathieu. “It reminds us that domestic violence is not limited to a few visible incidents, but can be part of a gradual dynamic of control and domination.”

This concept helps us grasp a reality that has long been underestimated: a person can gradually lose their freedom, self-confidence, or autonomy without there necessarily being any physical violence. Isolation, surveillance, control over finances or movements, systematic belittling… these are all mechanisms that build lasting control, the consequences of which can be just as devastating as physical violence. The book explores how this concept, now recognized within the Belgian legal system, compels the law to listen more closely to victims and to “take seriously realities that sometimes fell outside our usual categories,” explains Géraldine Mathieu.

The book also devotes significant attention to invisible forms of violence (psychological, economic, administrative, or digital), including those that continue after separation and those that affect children. “To name it is already to acknowledge it. And to acknowledge it is to enable better protection,” emphasizes Géraldine Mathieu.

These forms of violence pose a major challenge: they defy existing legal categories, often evade reporting mechanisms, and remain underdocumented. The book’s contributions aim to bring these forms of violence to light through statistical, sociological, and clinical approaches, while also examining the blind spots in public policy. As Géraldine Mathieu puts it: “Words are not just for describing the world. Identifying a form of violence means acknowledging what victims are going through and better understanding the mechanisms at work.”

In the face of this complexity, compartmentalized approaches reveal their limitations. The book brings together 25 contributions from academics, judges, lawyers, clinicians, and practitioners in the field, all sharing a common conviction: “The most relevant solutions emerge when everyone contributes their experience and is willing to learn from others.”

The law (criminal, family, property, and juvenile) is analyzed in depth at the Belgian, European, and international levels, but is constantly placed in dialogue with psychology, sociology, and practices in the field.

The conference embodied this same approach. By bringing together in one room professionals who do not always cross paths, it allowed new perspectives to emerge. “When professionals who don’t always follow the same practices take the time to listen to one another, new ideas emerge and everyone leaves a little changed,” observes Géraldine Mathieu. The outcome exceeded her expectations: for Marie-Amélie Delvaux, an attorney and lecturer at the Faculty of Law, the day was “eye-opening”: “We’re leaving with concrete tools; the speakers drew us into their cause.”

The book builds on this momentum by presenting innovative approaches and inspiring practices to improve the identification, prevention, and support of victims. 

The Vulnerabilities & Societies Research Center at UNamur takes a resolutely interdisciplinary approach to situations of human vulnerability, at the intersection of law, psychology, and the social sciences. It pays particular attention to vulnerable populations and fundamental rights.

Its unique character is based on a twofold goal: to produce rigorous knowledge and to foster dialogue between academic scholarship and practical fieldwork.

“Addressing serious issues with rigor, but also with enough openness to learn from others,” summarizes Géraldine Mathieu, co-director of the center.

Beyond research and teaching, V&S; sees itself as a meeting place between the academic world and the field, convinced that knowledge realizes its full value when it is shared and discussed. This mission is fully illustrated by this conference and the accompanying book.

A specialist in constitutional law and fundamental rights, Stéphanie Wattier has established herself as one of Belgium’s leading academic voices on the intersection of gender and human rights. With some 100 publications to her credit, this book is the result of years of research and teaching, particularly through her course “Law, Gender, and Society” taught in the Faculty of Law and in the inter-university master’s program specializing in gender studies.

Primarily grounded in Belgian law, the book incorporates numerous developments in European law, including the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as elements of comparative law.

The book opens with an analysis of the emergence of the concept of “gender” and its reception in law, before addressing topics such as gender identity, the physical and psychological integrity of intersex people, sexual orientation, gender-based violence, reproductive health, and gender equality.

The foreword is written by Stéphanie Hennette Vauchez, professor of public law at the University of Paris Nanterre and a leading expert on gender issues, a scholarly endorsement that underscores the significance of this work beyond national borders.

While not intended as a popular science guide, Gender Through the Lens of Human Rights was written to be accessible to a wide audience: lawyers, law students, activists, social workers, policymakers, and curious citizens will all find food for thought within its pages. This accessibility reflects Stéphanie Wattier’s conviction that legal research must be grounded in real-world practice and accessible to society as a whole.

Co-director of the Center for Vulnerabilities and Societies (V&S) and Vice President of the Transitions Institute at UNamur, as well as a member of the University’s Gender Committee, Stéphanie Wattier embodies this ambition for research that is both rigorous and grounded in the real world, addressing the challenges of our time. Her expertise is regularly sought after at national and international conferences, by the media, by members of civil society, and by the various Belgian parliaments.

The University of Namur is strongly committed to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. Since the creation of a gender group in 2011, followed by a dedicated Vice-Rectorate in 2013, UNamur has implemented a proactive policy centered on four pillars: human dignity, gender equality, inclusion, and the fight against harassment. On campus, the PHARE (Protection HARcèlement Étudiant) initiative, launched in 2021, allows any student who is a victim or witness to report an uncomfortable situation and receive anonymous and confidential support. Gender equality is also one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which UNamur has fully committed.

Launched in 2010 by NARILIS (Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences), the “student-researcher” program is based on a simple yet ambitious idea: to enable motivated students to immerse themselves in research starting in their undergraduate years. The goal is not necessarily to train future academics, but to push students out of their comfort zones, to develop their ability to learn independently, and to tackle complex subjects methodically and autonomously. These are valuable skills, regardless of the career path they choose.

Today, this educational model is gaining traction beyond the NARILIS Institute. At the UNamur Law Faculty, Donaciene Quoirin tried the experiment last year as part of writing a scientific article alongside Géraldine Mathieu, a professor of family and juvenile law, and Bee Marique, a lawyer and teaching assistant. Her mission? To give children a voice. This year, she has joined Lisa Salmon in the CAPACITI project, focused on children’s rights, in collaboration with researcher Manon Brulard.

CAPACITI is a research project aimed at engaging children in learning about and advocating for their rights. Far from being a desk-bound endeavor, it involves going directly to meet with children—particularly in schools—to hear their voices and understand how they perceive their rights.

The students were therefore tasked with designing fun educational tools, leading workshops with classes, taking notes, and facilitating activities. 

“For example, we created a little game called ‘Agree, Disagree,’ using signs, and a picture game to match a right with its illustration… These are practical tools we developed in collaboration with Manon Brulard,” explains Donaciene.

Lisa, for her part, focused on developing a board game inspired by Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, while actively participating in on-site activities. 

More recently, they have also contributed to in-depth research on the procedures for hearing children under Belgian law. This work will enable the creation of fun fact sheets for children to answer all their questions about how hearings before a judge take place.

What strikes Donaciene and Lisa is not only the intellectual depth of the project, but the human reality it reveals. During the workshops in schools, the children open up with disarming ease, sometimes on very sensitive topics. 

“We’ve been here for two hours, and they’re coming up to us to talk about very personal things. I found that pretty impressive,” Donaciene says.

Lisa, for her part, was struck by the way the children sometimes look at one another: “What struck me is that even among themselves, they can judge each other. Children trying to speak, not very sure of themselves, facing a group that judges…”

On the issue of rights themselves, the conclusion is clear: children know little, or misunderstand, their practical implications. “They’re for them and they’re essential, but they don’t know much about them,” Lisa sums up. Donaciene, for her part, observes two types: those who know they have rights but feel they aren’t respected much in the face of parental authority, and those who’ve never heard of them.

What makes this educational program particularly unique is also the nature of the relationship between the researcher and the students. Manon Brulard, the project’s principal investigator, is only three years older than Donaciene and Lisa. This closeness fosters a genuine, horizontal dynamic of collaboration, far removed from the traditional mentor-mentee model.

“I really want to treat them as full-fledged researchers. I give them meaningful tasks—tasks that will have a tangible impact. I don’t want to ask them to do work that no one will read,” Manon insists.

For her, working with student researchers also breaks the isolation inherent in research: “Research is a very solitary endeavor. Being able to discuss things after the sessions, to share ideas, is extremely enriching.”

The inclusion of the student-researcher status in the curriculum is no small matter. While Donaciene initially contributed on a volunteer basis as a student-researcher to the drafting of a scientific article, student participation in the CAPACITI project is now recognized as part of their legal internship, earning them 4 credits.

But beyond the credits, it is the experience itself that matters most. Donaciene puts it bluntly: seeing research from the inside, from its inception to its concrete outcomes, has opened her eyes to the profession of research. Lisa, for her part, regrets that the program is still not well-known enough: “If I hadn’t taken the Youth Law track, I would never have known this role existed.”

Both hope to continue the adventure next year and perhaps, one day, make research their career. Provided, they point out with clarity, that the criteria for entering an academic career do not close doors to students who are already rich in concrete and valuable experience.

The rule of law, which is increasingly under threat around the world, is a concept whose core principles and nuances are often misunderstood. That is why the High Council of Justice organizes Rule of Law Week every November, during which law students visit high schools to introduce young people to this concept and invite them to engage in “a critical but informed dialogue.” 

“As part of the practical component of their final-year projects, third-year students who opted for service-learning developed a two-hour workshop for 10th and 11th graders,” ” explains Alix Gobert, a teaching assistant at the UNamur Law School. They then visited social studies, history, economics, and geography classes at several schools in Namur in groups of four. “This initiative allowed them to interact with students who are a bit younger but still within their age group,” comments Olga Thiry, also an assistant at UNamur. “It’s therefore a genuine dialogue among young people about hot-button current events.”

Some student groups took into account their audience’s extensive familiarity with social media and AI, and chose to focus on this aspect. In particular, they addressed several recent news stories, such as the AI-generated videos produced by Fidesz. In one of them, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s party shows Péter Magyar, his main opponent, announcing (something he never actually did) his intention to cut pensions… “This kind of example immediately resonates with young people who are very familiar with these technologies,” comments Alix Gobert. “It also allowed us to address the issue of pluralism and how young people get their information. It turns out that, even if they don’t always know how to navigate it, they are well aware that getting information solely from social media isn’t enough.” For the students, this exercise was also a way to automatically distance themselves from AI. “With generative AI, doing homework at home makes less and less sense…,” comments Alix Gobert. “There’s always a bit of suspicion… This kind of work, however, allows us to assess students’ oral fluency and explore alternative approaches. And I must say I’ve rarely seen my students so motivated… ” Giving students the opportunity to introduce other young people to a concept as crucial as the rule of law is, ultimately, according to Olga Thiry, a way to combine “rigorous teaching” with “meaningful” academic work.  

The rule of law enshrines legal rules as instruments for regulating political and social organization. It constitutes the legal framework of democracies. It stands in contrast to two other types of state: the police state and the legal state. In a police state, the law is drafted and enforced by the state itself: the government exercises its power in an authoritarian and arbitrary manner, without legal oversight, as in the totalitarian regimes of the Third Reich and the USSR. In a legal state, the state is subject to laws passed by a parliament that recognizes no authority above itself: the legislature drafts laws without any hindrance, as was the case in France under the Third Republic. In a state governed by the rule of law, political power is subject to a hierarchical system of legal rules, which requires adherence to three major principles: the hierarchy of norms, equality before the law, and the separation of powers.

This hierarchy of legal rules (constitution, laws, decrees, etc.) makes it possible to determine which higher-level rules must be observed by lower-level rules, thereby preventing numerous conflicts between legal norms that, without this hierarchy, would compete with or contradict one another. Compliance with the hierarchy of norms is ensured by numerous courts, including the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, and the courts and tribunals.

Equality before the law means that the law applies equally to all legal entities, including natural persons (individuals) and legal persons (organizations). The state itself is considered a legal person, and its decisions are subject to the principle of legality.

The separation of powers stands in contrast to absolute monarchy, where all powers were exercised by the monarch. It recognizes three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial), each exercised by distinct bodies that are independent of one another. Legislative power is exercised by Parliament, executive power is held by the head of state and members of the government, and judicial power is vested in the courts.