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Is family mediation appropriate to situations of domestic violence towards women by men? This article brings together the differing answers available in the specialist literature on the subject. It shows that the supporters and opponents of this adaptation base their positions on differing analyses of men’s violence against women and on different conceptions of the neutrality necessary. There is a big gap between the professionals who draw attention to the risks of conjugal mediation in a violent situation and those who credit mediators with the power to absorb or master this risk. There are two things at stake in this confrontation. Intellectually it concerns the recognition of work based on a feminist practice and analysis; over and above this it is the security of abused women, their right to equity and to the appropriate services which could be called into question.