The battered woman defense is a defense that is used in court to defend assault/murder charges where the defendant is abused and commits a offence under duress or necessity. It is mainly used by women and also referred to as the battered woman syndrome/battered wife syndrome.
It is not gender specific as men have used this defense but the majority of the accused are female. The argument consists of a woman who are physically assaulted or sexually assaulted, who in their mind thinks they deserve the abuse from the abuser. Which is why they very rarely report it to the authorities and refuse to press charges and the abuse keeps on occurring. They may become depressed and this explains why they didn’t seek help form others, leave they situation, or fight back. It comes to a point were they fear for their own life or safely believing there is no way out and the only option is to kill the abuser or assaulter in order to escape the situation. There is no physiological condition to explain the mental condition they have to get to a point of desperation. Which makes it very hard to hold up in court.
This defense is split up into three parts, the plea of insanity, the plea of self-defense and the plea of duress.
- The plea of insanity is when the defendant has to have a mental illness or disorder at the time of the criminal act. This condition must have impaired the accused mental capacity so she did not understand what she was doing was morally wrong to society and she did not understand the nature of the act or consequences.(USDJ,1996)
-The plea of self-defense is where the accused used physical force this includes the use of a weapon, to respond to the abusers violent actions against them or their family for safety. But there may ...
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...nadian Biography, vol. 15, University of Toronto/Universite Laval, 2003–, retrieved March 6, 2014 from, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/napolitano_angelina_15E.html
National post (July 5, 2013) Jonathan Kay: The dangerous expansion of ‘battered woman defense’ in Canadian law, Retrieved March 22, 2014 from http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/07/15/jonathan-kay-decision-to-clear-woman-who-hired-hit-man-sets-dangerous-precedent/
National post (July 2, 2013) Barbara Kay: Nicole Doucet is innocent, by reason of gender, Retrieved March 22, 2014 from http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/07/02/barbara-kay-nicole-doucet-is-innocent-by-reason-of-gender/
Supreme court of Canada (may 3,1990) Supreme Court Judgments, case R. v. Lavallee, Retrieved march 22, 2014 from http://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/599/index.do?r=AAAAAQAOYmF0dGVyZWQgd29tYW4AAAAAAQ
The Insanity Plea is a book about the Uses & Abuses of the Insanity Defense in
Many criminals find many ways to get out of jail or being sentenced to death, what goes through their minds? Pleading insanity means to not be guilty of a crime committed due to reason of mental illness. In many cases criminals get away with pleading insanity, but in the end does it always work out? Bruco Eastwood pleaded insanity and therefore his background, crime, and where he is now will be crucial to Brucos’ insanity plea.
Martin, Sheilah L. "R. V. Morgentaler Et Al." Canadian Journal Of Women & The Law 1.1 (1985): 194-205. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Battered women constitute one of the most marginalized groupings in the social order. Their relationship incidents occasionally put these individuals into disagreement with the law, particularly when they murder their violent partners. The Battered woman syndrome (BWS) was created by clinical psychologist (1970’s) with an intention of depicting the series of occurrences that physically abused women frequently experience in their relationships.
When you use the insanity defense, you're pleading that you are not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty by reason of insanity, or some variation along those lines, depending on the state in which you're charged. If you can prove you were legally insane at the time you committed the crime for which you're on trial, you can expect to be sentenced to psychiatric treatment rather than convicted and imprisoned.
Intimate partner violence has been a significant issue for centuries in all countries. "Since 1974, nearly 2,600 spousal homicides have been recorded in Canada" (Bunge, 2002). Of these homicides, more than three-quarters have been against women. Although through feminism and the women's liberation movement, there has been a slight improvement in the incidences of violence against women, there has also been a drastic change in the perception of the issue by society. After reviewing the most recent literature on violence against women and victimization through intimate partners, it has become prevalent that there are now two crucial stances that are taken. The first position is that of the women being victimized as the main issue, including prevention, causes and incidences. The second position is that of women becoming more 'aggressive' and the issue of violence against both men and women. "Wife battering- the original problem constituted by the 1970s feminists- has morphed into 'domestic violence' and then into 'husband abuse'" (Minaker, 2006). This literature review will examine the background information on intimate partner violence including different arguments and perspectives, theories, and methodologies as well as discuss the major findings and future directions of research.
Violence has become prevalent within society; it is something the western world has learned to accept. With every minute that passes Canadians come face to face with certain acts of violence they may not have previously encountered (citation). Although, violence is not a subject that one can escape, women and children have unfortunately become the prime victims of violent acts. The media glorifies violence in other countries around the world it fails to address the presence of violence within Canada. Although violence is usually associated with gangs and guns, Canada experiences more violence related to bullying, sexual, verbal, cyber and domestic abuse (citation). Amidst the changing societal views towards treating women equally and eliminating objectification, of all these types of violence and abuse in our society, the most common still happens to be domestic abuse, which is mainly targeted at women and affects children. Domestic abuse is described as a form of abuse that takes place in the confines of the household (Citation). Though 51% of Canadians have said to have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse only 20% of those cases related to domestic violence are ever reported (citation). Domestic abuse has become more prevalent in modern society; however, it is an issue that is left un-noticed simply because its effects are invisible outside the walls of ones home. In reality the effects of domestic violence have severe negative effects on women, children and the social structure of today’s society. Without any notification of domestic violence the re precautions of this abuse can be dire. When an individual thinks of domestic abuse, their ideas quickly relate back to women, simply because women are the usual and most common victims of domestic violence. And therefore is an issue that must be resolved rather than ignored.
The defense of diminished capacity, also called diminished responsibility, is available in some jurisdictions. It is based upon claims that a defendant’s mental condition at the time of the crime, although not sufficient to support the affirmative defense of insanity, might still lower criminal culpability. A finding of diminished capacity may result in a verdict of "guilty" to lessened charges.
In the single year of 2009, there were 460,000 reported incidents of sexual assault against women in Canada (“Criminal Victimization in Canada” 1). Amnesty International once stated that aggression against women “is so deeply embedded in society that it often fails to garner public censure and outrage.” This is evidenced by the fact that only roughly 10% of all sexual assaults are revealed, and to exacerbate the circumstances, women are frequently repudiated, blamed, and dispensed apathetic or cruel manipulation (“Violence Against Women Information” 1). Women’s rights are constantly defiled through domestic violence, and yet it is still abounding and ubiquitous in developed countries. Indeed, every six days, a woman in Canada is brutally killed by the one whom she considered her loving male partner. With every year that passes, approximately 362,000 children are witness to violent parental episodes in Canada. Witnessing violence can disturb the development of children and can eventuate in
There are many cases where self- defense has been used as a plea where the victim felt they were in harms’ way or unable to escape a specific situation that ended badly. The definition for self- defense is: 1. Defense of oneself when physically attacked 2. Defense of what belongs to oneself, as ones work or reputation 3. (Law) the right to protect oneself against violence or threatened violence with whatever force or means reasonable or necessary. According to an expert on battered women, a woman must experience at least two complete battering cycles before being labeled a battered woman. (Walker) According to Dowd, “he believes the proper use of BWS assists the fact finder to understand the state of mind of the battered woman at the time she fought back against her abuser.”(1) Women should be able to use BWS as a plea when habitual abuse occurs within a relationship with a significant other and results in violence or worse death.
The Battered Woman Syndrome (BWM) is a syndrome whereas women react in a certain manner because of repetitively physical or psychological abused imposed on them by their mates. The Battered Woman Syndrome (BMW) is not limited in one area or location it is a problem that is occurring all over in the world (2009, pg. 148). Like every other issue in the world criticism come into play by psychologists and others when someone claims that they are victims of the Battered Woman Syndrome or the Battered Woman Defense when they are taken to trial for killing their batterers (BMW) (2009, pgs. 162-163).
The four criminal law elements of self-defense are nonaggressor, necessity, proportionality, and reasonable belief. Nonaggressor is when the defender did not in any way provoke or stray an attack. When it comes to self-defense it is only available when it comes to unprovoked attacks. If one provokes someone they cannot use self-defense to defend themselves from the attack because they provoked it. However there is one exception and that is the withdrawal exception. The withdrawal exception is when the initial aggressor withdrawals completely from the attack they provoked they can defend themselves against their initial victims. An example of nonaggressor self-defense is Melody hanging out at the bar by herself and Samantha comes up to her trying
Domestic violence can often go unnoticed, unreported and undeterred before it’s too late. Unfortunately, recent awareness efforts have gathered traction only when public outcry for high profile cases are magnified through the media. Despite this post-measured reality, a general response to domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) by the majority of the public is in line with what most consider unacceptable and also with what the law considers legally wrong. Consider by many, more than just a social discrepancy, the Center of Diseases Control and Prevention currently classifies IPV and DV as a social health problem (CDC, 2014).
First I would like to address the definition of Battered Woman Syndrome. Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) is a condition often used by the defense in cases like this one to relieve the defendant of some or
Since 1985 Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) has made great strides in enforcing the importance of ensuring equality and protection towards all women in Canada particularly in regards to sexual assault. LEAF’s legal background has enabled them to advocate and intervene in many legal cases where they believe women are at risk of mistreatment and discrimination not only in the legal system, but in society as well (“History”). For this reason, LEAF is one of the main reasons why women’s rights have positively changed in regards to consent, personal records, and stereotypes when discussing sexual assault. Thus, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund is an important women’s activism group as they have continued to fight