Women who fall in love with violent men would be warned off the relationship by police, under controversial new proposals to be published by the home secretary tomorrow.

Jacqui Smith told the Observer that serial perpetrators of domestic violence could be monitored in a similar way to paedophiles, allowing police to identify and alert any new partners to their records in the hope of preventing future abuse. Wife batterers also face new conditions restricting their movements or habits, such as forcing them to seek treatment for drink problems, under a wide-ranging review of violence against women.

However, the idea of the state interfering in adults' love lives will be highly sensitive, raising new questions over privacy and over whether any genuinely repentant offenders would be able to leave their pasts behind. After a series of errors by the Criminal Records Bureau, where job applicants were wrongly accused of having a criminal past, there will also be concerns over the potentially devastating consequences of mistaken identity.

Smith will ask Brian Moore, chief constable of Wiltshire and the Association of Chief Police Officers' spokesman on domestic violence, to lead a review of how such changes could be introduced. She said it would be targeting serial offenders "who basically go from one relationship to another, beating up the women", focusing on ways to break the cycle.

"Arguably there is a duty of care, if you know that this guy has already beaten up women, to consider whether you should warn the next woman," she said. "This is a sensitive area and that is why I want Brian Moore to look at it."

The proposals come on International Women's Day, with the weekend's annual protest march against violence against women given added impetus by the case of singer Rhianna, whose boyfriend, the R'n'B star Chris Brown, was last week charged with assault over an alleged attack on her in Los Angeles.

Leaked photographs of Rhianna's bruised face prompted outraged fans to form Facebook groups supporting her and condemning violence. However, some of 19-year-old Brown's supporters responded by accusing her of provoking the alleged attack by being too "controlling", while scurrilous rumours were circulated about her behaviour on gossip websites.

Smith declined to comment on the case but said it was clear the belief persisted in some quarters that violence could sometimes be excused, adding: "I don't think we should ever be complacent about allowing to creep back the idea that any woman in any circumstances, in any relationship, deserves to be in a position where their partner is being violent."

The cross-government consultation is also expected to study new ways of preventing sexual assaults, including changing male attitudes to consent. The youth worker Camilla Batmanghelidjh has warned of a "shocking increase" in gang rapes of young girls in inner cities, with sexual violence being used to intimidate and punish girls regarded as disrespectful towards gang members.

"There is some evidence, anecdotally if not more than that, about (rape as part of) initiation rites and about the way in which these may be linked to gang culture, and certainly I think it would be worthy of consideration as part of this consultation," Smith said.

The review will look at lessons to be learned from a pilot allowing new partners of convicted paedophiles to be alerted to their criminal records to prevent children being unwittingly put at risk. Although treating battered women in the same way risks charges of infantilising them, Smith said the nature of domestic violence left many women powerless: "Domestic violence and its repeated incidence has the impact on women of putting them in a situation where it's actually very difficult for them to make choices." If they were given information by the police it would be up to them how they responded, she said.

She signalled the government may stop short of a full register in favour of tracking selected repeat offenders. However, Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, questioned whether police had the resources to monitor the relationships of serial perpetrators.

"All of us are concerned about domestic violence but we also have to be realistic about what our police can achieve at a time when forces are cutting numbers. I struggle to see how on earth the police can be expected to keep tabs on people in this way," he said.

Other measures to be considered by the review include so-called "go orders" requiring a man accused of domestic violence to be temporarily removed from the couple's home for a short period, while his partner considers pressing charges.