Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Is near enough good enough? Why isn't self-defence appropriate for the battered woman?
Other Titles:	Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
Authors:	Bradfield, Rebecca
Keywords:	Legal issues;Criminal justice responses;Homicide
Year:	1998
Publisher:	Australian Academic Press : Samford Valley
Citation:	5 (1), April 1998
Notes:	Discusses the Australian courts’ application of the defences of provocation and self-defence to women who killed their violent partners. While killing in self-defence is excused and the performer is entitled to an acquittal, provocation reduces murder to manslaughter. From a research of fifty-four cases between 1979 and 1997, the author identified provocation as the preferred defence in trials where a woman was charged with the murder of her abusive partner. The cases of Robyn Kina and Cheryl Bradley are presented to reveal some of the circumstances that prevent legal representatives and judges from raising the defence of self-defence. Each element required in the law of provocation and self-defence is analysed to explain the inclination. The attitudes to domestic violence are also mentioned as a relevant factor to focus on provocation rather than on self-defence.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/15515
ISSN:	1321-8719
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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