Domestic violence in the world all over is one of the largest social problems and the solutions to the problem still remain elusive. The main challenge facing domestic violence cases is their prevalence and underreporting despite being spread out in the social classes. Occasionally, the battered partner in an abusive relationship lashes out and may inflict harm or even kill their partner in the process (Dowd, 1991). The battered woman defense is a defense that can be used in such cases. It is also called the battered person syndrome or the battered women syndrome, its female connotation arises from the fact that it is mostly relied on women. The syndrome was hypothesized by Lenore Walker, who was a psychologist in her book “The battered Woman” to assist the women in explaining their use of force in an abuse relationship.
The defense can be relied on by anyone who due to severe and constant physical abuse in a domestic relationship becomes depressed and unable to make independent action that would facilitate escape from the abuse. The inability could arise from lack of financial means to survive on their own or lack the social support. Most of the people who rely on the defense typically demonstrate that they have a low self-esteem while suffering from feelings of misplaced loyalty to the abuser. As a result, most are unable or unwilling to file charges against their abusers. It is important to note that the condition is not medically recognized. Nonetheless, it can be recognized by courts depending on the circumstances (Wimberly, 2014). While there is no medical support for the defense because it is used in the courts, it is an applicable defense.
In the case of People v. Diaz (1983) the wife Madelyn killed her husband in a situation where she was not under any immediate threat. Her husband was a police officer who committed numerous violent acts including sexual on her during their marriage. One such act included taking her to out in the winter forcing her to remove her clothes and then inviting a stranger to rape her. One day before she killed him he had held a revolver to their six-month daughter threatening her. The threats to the child were a new turn as he had never done that previously. On the material day having a flashback on his voice threatening the child, she took a revolver and shot him twice while he slept. She initially lied to the investigators that the house had been broken into but confessed three days later (Easteal, 2014). She was indicted for second-degree murder.
In my view, she was not guilty of murder and her plea of self-defense was legitimate under the battered woman syndrome. As she piled in her defense, the killing of her husband was in self-defense despite the fact that she was not under imminent danger. She had been under the abusive husband who also happened to be a police officer who prevented her from seeking aid of the same officers. She had been also under his for a long time and would have had a misplaced sense of loyalty to him accompanied by Stockholm’s syndrome. The tipping factor was his threat towards their six-month-old daughter. As such her shooting of him can be considered as self-defense (Wimberly, 2014).
References
Dowd, M. (1991). Dispelling the Myths About the “Battered Woman’s Defense:” Towards a New Understanding. Fordham Urban Law Journal, 56-70.
Easteal , P. (2014). Batteered Women Who Kill: A Plea of Self-Defence. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.
Wimberly, M. H. (2014, October 27). Defending Victims of Domestic Violence Who Kill Their Batterers: Using the Trial Expert to Change Social Norms. Retrieved from American Bar.org: http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/migrated/domviol/docs/Wimberly.authcheckdam.pdf
