Considering New Zealand's Lack of Partial Defences in Relation to Battered Women Who Kill Their Abusers

Abstract

Women in New Zealand face high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, when battered women kill their abusers, they are often not well-served by self-defence and few are able to argue the defence effectively. New Zealand has no partial defences, which leaves women stuck between the guilty-not-guilty binary of self-defence on the one hand and a possible murder conviction on the other. Although partial defences are not a perfect solution, they would provide battered women with more options. While there are several different partial defences which could be used in a New Zealand context, a specific IPV- based defence would be the most appropriate, as it could be designed from the ground up and avoid many of the flaws inherent in the other partial defences.

Keywords: Intimate Partner Violence, Partial Defences, Self-Defence, Battered Women

JEL Classification: K00, K14