The government has announced proposals to change the law on murder, including a new defence for people who kill after suffering domestic abuse. In exceptional cases, defendants who successfully claim that they were "seriously wronged" by the "words and conduct" of the victim could now be convicted of manslaughter, rather than murder. Long-term domestic abuse sufferers will also be able to use a partial defence of "fear of serious violence". The proposals face public consultation before new legislation is introduced.Not being a criminal lawyer, I can't comment on the proposals. They seem to be generally welcomed, although I noted that Erin Pizzey, founder of the first refuge for battered wives in 1971, indicated on the BBC's Breakfast Programme this morning that she felt the changes were unnecessary, as she said that most women who kill their abusers do not go to prison under the present law.
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Update: The consultation paper can be found on the Ministry of Justice website, in PDF form, here. (Thanks Current Awareness.)
Pizzey wrote in the Mail, 'Effectively, what Harman and the ultra-feminist lobby want is a
ReplyDeletelicence for women to kill'. Harperson believes that because most spousal homicide is perpetrated by husbands, and because - in her view - men kill out of 'anger' while women kill out of 'fear' the law should reflect that. One could as well say, when discussing legislation to control possession of knives, that because white teenagers carry knives out of 'fear' while black teenagers carry knives out of 'anger' that the law should reflect that too.
Pizzey continued, 'Harman's proposals could
become a charter for domestic chaos, as vengeful women believe they
can butcher partners they come to loathe, inventing incidents of
abuse or exaggerating fears of assault.' Pizzey has dedicated her life to combating domestic violence, while never resorting to the man-hating feminism that is batty Hattie's stock-in-trade. I respect her views.
I guess it's back to that roof...
Thanks for that Nick. Can I join you on the roof?
ReplyDeleteI was just reviewing some of the literature (so that my own prejudices don't cloud my judg(e)ment), and found a very useful Law Commission Consultation Paper here: http://www.dewar4research.org/docs/pdm.pdf which seems to contradict everything the batty Hattie Harperson says. For example, only 20% of female DV is in self-defence.
ReplyDeleteSome people have said that we at F4J derive a perverse pleasure from claiming that women are just as violent as men. We don't, we abhor all violence, but we also believe that policy should not be based on extremist ideology.
You want policy based on the truth? That'll be a first...
ReplyDelete