Inaccessible to women - the general defences of duress and self defence

Susan Edwards

Chapter 19 in Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse, 2024, pp 325-345 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter will consider and summarise the defences of self-defence, duress by threats, (duress of circumstance) and loss of self-control manslaughter. Despite the recognition, at least by some, that these defences in their drafting and interpretation yield to masculinist and heteronormative assumptions and are no longer fit for purpose, the law and legal actors continue to claim equality of access whilst delivering injustice. Each of these defences will be dissected and focus will rest on the substantive provisions and on those elements of interpretation which rely on extra-legal construction of fluid concepts by judges who for example apply their ‘common sense’ and jurors for example determine whether conduct is reasonable in the circumstances. It will be argued that doctrinal provisions and quasi-legal constructs used to test and weigh culpability such as ‘reasonableness’, ‘no realistic alternative’, ‘necessary’, ‘proportionate’, ‘common sense’ are overdetermined by gender assumptions. Failed reform efforts will be analysed.

Keywords: Law - Academic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035300648.00027 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:21920_19

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Darrel McCalla ().