Women Who Kill Their Abusive Partners: from Sameness to Gender Construction

Author: Carline Anna  

Publisher: Springer Publishing Company

ISSN: 0144-932X

Source: Liverpool Law Review, Vol.26, Iss.1, 2005-01, pp. : 13-44

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Since the early 1990s there has been a plethora of academic commentary on the criminal law’s treatment of women who kill their abusive partners. More recently, the debate has been re-opened due to the Law Commission’s proposals on Partial Defences to Murder. This article aims to critically analyse the approach adopted by the academic commentary and to place in within a feminist theory framework. In addition the article argues that the work of queer theorist Judith Butler enables the analysis of the law’s treatment to be developed further.