Women Who Kill Their Abusive Intimate Partners in Non-Confrontational Circumstances - The Need for German Criminal Law Reform

Article

Braun, Kerstin. 2024. "Women Who Kill Their Abusive Intimate Partners in Non-Confrontational Circumstances - The Need for German Criminal Law Reform." International Journal For Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.3571

Article Title	Women Who Kill Their Abusive Intimate Partners in Non-Confrontational Circumstances - The Need for German Criminal Law Reform
ERA Journal ID	200030
Article Category	Article
Authors	Braun, Kerstin
Journal Title	International Journal For Crime, Justice and Social Democracy
Number of Pages	10
Year	2024
Publisher	Queensland University of Technology
Place of Publication	Australia
ISSN	2201-2966
	2201-3784
	2202-7998
	2202-8005
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.3571
Web Address (URL)	https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/3571/1497
Abstract	To acknowledge the lived realities of women who kill their abusive partners when they are sleeping or inattentive, several jurisdictions have reformed or reinterpreted their criminal laws. Some have introduced specific domestic violence defences while others construe existing defences more broadly in recognition of the circumstances under which abused women kill. Germany, however, has not adopted these approaches. Through analysis of the 2003 Bundesgerichtshof’s, the highest court of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany, so-called ‘family tyrant’ judgment, this article examines the treatment of women who kill their abusers in the German criminal justice system. The article concludes that law reform is necessary to better acknowledge the situation of female victims who kill their abusive intimate partners in non-confrontational circumstances in response to long-term domestic violence.
Keywords	German criminal law; family violence; domestic violence; family tyrant; law reform; lived realities
Contains Sensitive Content	Contains sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020	480302. Comparative law
	480503. Criminal procedure
	480401. Criminal law
Byline Affiliations	University of Southern Queensland

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