Domestic criminality and its hidden dimension: criminological approaches and the limits of penal implications

Abstract

Domestic criminality represents one of the most persistent and underreported forms of violent crime, located at the intersection between the private sphere of family relationships and the positive obligation of the state to ensure the effective protection of fundamental human rights. Its criminological specificity derives from the relational, repetitive, and escalating nature of the acts, as well as from the existence of a significant hidden dimension, known in the specialized literature as the “dark figure of crime”. This article aims to provide a criminological and victimological analysis of domestic criminality, focusing on the mechanisms of invisibilization of the phenomenon, the structural causes of underreporting, the limits of repressive criminal policy, and the necessity of reconfiguring prevention strategies. The approach is critical and interdisciplinary, integrating doctrinal contributions, relevant statistical data for the Republic of Moldova, and reference points from European case law.