• Legislation should allow complainant/survivors to bring civil lawsuits against family member perpetrators irrespective of criminal charges. See: UN Handbook 3.12.1; UN Model Framework, VI; and law of Ghana.

• Legislation should allow complainant/survivors to bring civil lawsuits against individuals or state entities that have not prevented, investigated or punished acts of domestic violence.  See Gonzales v. US; and UN Handbook 3.12.2. 

In Gonzales v. US (2007), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared the case admissible for a merits hearing because the plaintiff had exhausted all of her legal remedies under United States law, and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man required the United States to protect domestic violence victims from private acts of violence. A merits hearing was held on 22 October 2008 in Washington, D.C., a year after the admissibility decision. No decision has been issued to date on the merits.