Facts seen and unseen: improving justice responses by using a social entrapment lens for cases involving abused women (as offenders or victims)

Abstract

This article explores two recent cases. The first, where a woman from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (Rinnabel Blackmore) was killed by her abusive partner and the second, where an Aboriginal woman (Jody Gore) killed her abusive partner. In both cases, we consider the implications of using a social entrapment lens, which focuses on coercive control, the limits of the family violence safety response and the role of structural intersectionality to understand the form of violence the woman faced before being killed by her abuser or killing her abuser. We show how a social entrapment framework can reveal relevant facts and improve understanding of the dynamics of violence and might have led to different actions and decisions by the agencies and individuals responding to the violence in these cases.<br/ ><br/ >KEYWORDS: coercive control, homicide, intimate partner violence, safety options, self-defence, social entrapment