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Battered Person Syndrome

Is There a Legal Defense to Hurting a Woman?

Physical abuse and domestic violence against women is extremely painful and agonizing for an individual who is being subjected to it. In many cases, domestic violence against women only becomes more severe overtime. Abused women may notice that their partners are becoming more aggressive and violent as time progresses. Often, victims of domestic violence will feel trapped. Abused women may feel that there is no safe way to escape their current situation.

A perpetrator will forbid their victim from speaking with anyone about the abuse. They may threaten their victim with extreme brutality and death if they seek help. The offender may also threaten to subject the victim's children to abuse. In situations such as this, a victim of intimate partner abuse may believe that attempting to escape the detrimental relationship will be more harmful then remaining in their current environment. Attempting to leave may put the victim's children at risk for harm.

Therefore, a victim may be convinced that they have no options. In situations such as this, abused women will fear for their lives and for the lives of their children. Domestic violence against women often ends fatally, not only with the death of the victim, but in some cases with the murder of the abuser.

Women who believe that their abuser will subject them to fatal abuse may go to extreme measures in order to protect themselves and their children. Domestic violence against women may result in the premeditated murder of the offender, or the accidental slaying of the abuser. Victims of abuse are not always submissive and compliant.

Sometimes abused women fight back. The wounds that an individual inflicts upon an abuser in self defense may be fatal and can result in the death of the offender. In some cases, abused women will be so convinced that there is no way to escape their abuser that they will plot and carry out the perpetrators murder. In instances such as this, many individuals who have killed their abuser will exercise battered women's syndrome as a legal defense. This psychological condition is used in order to illustrate the victim's mentality throughout their affliction.

This defense will help to explain why a victim did not try to escape their detrimental relationship and why they dud not seek assistance from other individuals. It will also help to answer questions regarding a victim's failure to report abuse and their denial of the domestic violence. If this condition is accepted as a sufficient legal defense, then an individual who is responsible for murder may receive few or no negative repercussions for their actions. However, utilizing this psychological condition as a legal defense has been very controversial because there is no medical evidence that battered women's syndrome is a serious enough medical ailment to justify the victim's actions. In some cases, battered women's syndrome is not considered to be an acceptable legal defense. If you need legal advice and assistance, contact defense lawyers.

However, courts recognize that an individual who is suffering from this condition may use self defense, insanity, or provocation as a legal defense. Although many people recognize battered women's syndrome as a severe psychological condition, and they understand that domestic violence against women results in battered women's syndrome, not all courts believe that it justifies the murder of the abuser.

Battered Person Syndrome

Battered woman syndrome has been recognized as a severe psychological condition since it was first described in the 1970s. It is often considered to be a form of post traumatic stress disorder. Women who are subjected to repetitive and acute physical violence, sexual assault, and psychological abuse by their intimate partner may develop battered woman syndrome. A battered woman will often display specific temporary psychological characteristics. It has been observed that the symptoms that a battered woman will exhibit unravel in a predictable pattern.

First a victim will experience denial. When the victim acknowledges that there is something wrong in their relationship, they will experience a period of guilt and shame. Soon, a battered woman will recognize that the abuse is the fault of her partner and she will understand the necessity of escaping her abusive relationship. By this point, it is common for a battered woman to feel as if there is no possible way to safely escape their current situation. These symptoms unravel as the cycle of abuse progresses and increases in severity. It may begin with covert psychological abuse. The offender may manipulate, coerce, and isolate the victim. The emotional abuse will soon give way to physical violence.

This brutality will become more severe over time. Soon, a battered woman may be experiencing frequent and severe beatings. By this point, an individual who is suffering from battered woman syndrome may have developed extremely low self esteem and bitter depression. They may have lost contact with all of their friends and family because of the behavior of their abuser. Often, perpetrators will isolate their victims in order to ensure that they no longer have a way to escape their situation. This will make it very difficult for a battered woman to leave her environment. Battered woman syndrome may cause a victim of domestic violence to resort to extreme behavior in order to protect herself.

Once a victim of battered woman syndrome understands the consequences of remaining in her abusive relationship she will begin to consider how to escape it. However, by the time a battered woman recognizes the necessity of leaving her environment; she has been brutalized and abused so many times. She is very familiar with the pain and the agony of physical beatings. Often, her abuser has threatened to inflict more severe violence and even death if she tries to escape.

The offender may have also threatened the lives of her children. An individual who is suffering from battered woman syndrome will be convinced that there is no way of escaping her abuser. If she leaves he will find her. She will firmly believe that there is no where that she can turn for help and support. Therefore, many women who have developed this psychological condition attempt to eliminate the threat by murdering the perpetrator. The victim may try to attack the offender when they are most vulnerable.

For example, in July 2009, Amanda Carina Barbosa Rodriguesi stood trial for the murder of her husband, famous Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti. Lawyers claimed that her only defense was that she was suffering from battered woman syndrome due to the physical abuse that her husband was subjecting her to. This condition is often utilized as a legal defense in cases in which abused women kill their partner.

Domestic violence has severe and adverse effects on a victims psychological and mental health. Women who are suffering from physical brutality are often desperate for a way out and may resort to extreme behavior in order to escape.