In light of recent global developments – namely, the restriction of women's access to abortion – which call into question women's autonomy, as well as the high number of femicides (at least in Austria), violence against women's health is a present and highly relevant topic. Violence against women's health in international law deals with the issue of violence against women and the right to health, in particular reproductive health, and demonstrates the complex relationship between these two areas. Although there is already a rich body of literature of violence against women from different areas of research, the link between violence against women and the right to health introduces the new concept of violence against women's health from an international law perspective. The author, Sara De Vido, an Associate Professor of International Law at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, reconceptualises state responsibility to emphasise positive obligations of result, due diligence obligations and obligations to progressively take steps.

The book is structured according to the paradigm of medicine that has been circulating since Hippocrates, and the chapters are therefore divided into anamnesis, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Furthermore, every chapter analyses the connection between violence against women and the right to health on two different levels. On the one hand, the horizontal dimension of the problem is analysed, which covers interpersonal relations: ‘violence between individuals, including “family and intimate partner violence and community violence” the former committed within the context of the family, “community” referring to “acquaintance and stranger violence,” violence in workplaces and other institutions’ (pp. 22, 23). On the other hand, the vertical dimension is examined, which includes state health policies and laws which might affect women's health and constitute a form of gender-based violence.

The book consists of four chapters. The first chapter (anamnesis) starts with a comprehensive overview of the jurisprudence of regional human rights courts, the activity of international human rights bodies and relevant national judgments and state practice regarding violence against women – in particular, violence against women's health and reproductive health.