International Initiative and Domestic Reforms: European Union Efforts to Combat Violence against Women Celeste Montoya University of Colorado, Boulder Since the 1990s, many countries have adopted policies aimed at combating violence against women; however, despite widespread policy adoption, actual reform has been uneven at best. In this article, I analyze the role played by international organizations and transnational networks in promoting women’s human rights. In the first section, I examine the different mechanisms by which states adopt new policies and the implications they have on prospects for implementation. I propose a new model, the umbrella pattern, that accounts for the decoupling of policy and practice caused by states with limited local capacity. In addition, I argue that international organizations can improve the prospects for domestic implementation by engaging in capacity-building strategies, such as resource distribution and the facilitation of transnational networks. In the second section, I present an empirical study of the European Union and its efforts to address violence against women. In regards to policy adoption, I evaluate its efforts at policy promotion and then provide a comparative and aggregate analysis of policy adoption in member and candidate states. To address EU capacity-building efforts, I focus on one particular initiative, the Daphne project, which is the EU’s primary mechanism for addressing gender violence. I would like to acknowledge the following people for their comments and support at various stages of this project: Lee Ann Banaszak, Lorraine Bayard de Volo, Tobin Grant, Scott McClurg, Courtney McDonald, Hector Perla, Meg Rincker, Fred Solt, Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, and anonymous reviewers. I would also like to thank the Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for their research support on this project. Published by Cambridge University Press 1743-923X/09 $20.00 for The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association. # 2009 The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association. doi:10.1017/S1743923X0999016X 325 Politics & Gender, 5 (2009), 325–348. Printed in the U.S.A.