Abstract

This article seeks to show the effects of the incursion of Chilean State in the struggle against violence towards women in the domestic sphere. For this, we focus on political and legal devices. We will show the role of the Courts of Justice and National Women’s Service (SERNAM) as instruments of attention and protection for the people affected by the issue, during the latest governments of Michelle Bachelet (2006 – 2010) and Sebastian Piñera (2010-2014). During the development of the analysis, it will be characterized how the familiarist approach of the law comes into tension with the devices proposed by the State. Stating that gender as a critical category, while being invisible, likewise appears as a power and domination relation ordering. This occurs both in the construction of legislation and in the intervention of the main issue at local levels.