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Historically, and in international public policies, the issue of domestic violence has been understood as a product and a mechanism of gender relations and inequalities between men and women. Yet, as the public problem of domestic violence became institutionalized, this understanding became the focus of definitional struggles between public policy actors. This article considers this shift by specifically highlighting the ways in which descriptions and explanations of domestic violence have been shaped by the health and medical sector. By comparing two cantons of French-speaking Switzerland—Geneva and Vaud—,this article looks at the construction of public action categories and shows how healthcare professionals have transformed the definition of domestic violence.