- Title
- The defence of battered woman syndrome
- Creator
- Matyobeni, Phathiswa Vanesharee
- Subject
- Abused women -- South Africa
- Subject
- Battered woman syndrome -- South Africa
- Date Issued
- 2017
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- LLM
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/45432
- Identifier
- vital:38616
- Description
- Women in South Africa are a vulnerable group, who face threats of violence and abuse daily. The worst aspect of this being domestic abuse or intimate partner violence. Domestic abuse between partners is a common occurrence that results not only from a power imbalance in the relationship but from expectations of society regarding the role of the woman and accepted behaviours, regarding the disciplining of the wife, that is held by communities. Despite attempts by law enforcement and the State to minimise and control domestic abuse; domestic abuse remains on the rise. These women find themselves unprotected and facing possible death at the hands of a loved one. In fear for their lives, these women resolve to kill their partners before their husbands kill them. This changes their status from victim to perpetrator. Consequently, they face prosecution.This dilemma is not unique to South Africa, and as a result, author Lenore Walker created Battered Woman Syndrome. This syndrome was created to explain the experience of these women and answer the questions as to why these women remain in these relationships. Also explained is why they feel trapped. This is a psychological theory that has been used by courts in Australia and the United States to assist the battered woman in justifying her actions when claiming self-defence. South Africa, however, has not made use of Battered Woman Syndrome when defending the battered woman in South African courts.
- Format
- 98 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Law
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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NMMU Department of Criminal and Procedural Law
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | P. v.matyobeni 210002034.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |