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.
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Law Lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University. I would like to thank Dr Jamie Murray and Dr Lorie Charlesworth for their help and support in the writing of this article.
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Carline, A. Women Who Kill Their Abusive Partners: from Sameness to Gender Construction. Liverpool Law Rev 26, 13–44 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-005-3773-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-005-3773-7