Type:	Journal Article
Title:	A consideration of the merits of specialised homicide offences and defences for battered women
Other Titles:	Australian and New Zealand journal of criminology
Authors:	Douglas, Heather
Keywords:	Legal issues;Homicide;Men as victims
Year:	2012
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	45 (3), December 2012
Notes:	In response to calls for reform, some jurisdictions have introduced specialised offences and defences for battered women who kill their abuser. In 2005, Victoria introduced the offence of ‘defensive homicide’. More recently, in 2010, Queensland introduced a defence titled ‘killing for preservation in an abusive domestic relationship’. If successful these approaches result in a conviction of defensive homicide and manslaughter respectively. While defensive homicide has been explored in a number of cases in Victoria; the Queensland defence has only been considered on a few occasions to date. This article reviews the underlying debates relating to these developments and then examines recent case law to consider the application of these two approaches and their effectiveness in light of what they were designed to achieve. The article concludes that the reforms may have resulted in some unintended consequences. [?2012 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. For further information, visit SAGE publications link.]
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/13070
ISSN:	0004-8658
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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