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Legal Terms - Battered Woman Syndrome
Psychological syndrome experienced by an individual, usually a woman, due to long-term and severe physical and emotional mistreatment by her partner. The concept of Battered Woman Syndrome has influenced the establishment of a partial defense to murder in cases where a woman who has been subjected to abuse kills her abusive partner. It is important to note that there is no specific legal defense known as Battered Woman Syndrome. However, the evidence of the abuse and its psychological impact on the woman may serve as the foundation for a defense of either "loss of control" or "diminished responsibility" (R v Ahluwhalia [1992] 4 All ER 889 (CA)). Although Battered Woman Syndrome has been criticism for its inability to encompass the various responses that battered women may exhibit in reaction to severe abuse, it has offered a coherent explanation for why these women may find it difficult to break free from an abusive partner.
Psychological syndrome experienced by an individual, usually a woman, due to long-term and severe physical and emotional mistreatment by her partner. The concept of Battered Woman Syndrome has influenced the establishment of a partial defense to murder in cases where a woman who has been subjected to abuse kills her abusive partner. It is important to note that there is no specific legal defense known as Battered Woman Syndrome. However, the evidence of the abuse and its psychological impact on the woman may serve as the foundation for a defense of either "loss of control" or "diminished responsibility" (R v Ahluwhalia [1992] 4 All ER 889 (CA)). Although Battered Woman Syndrome has been criticism for its inability to encompass the various responses that battered women may exhibit in reaction to severe abuse, it has offered a coherent explanation for why these women may find it difficult to break free from an abusive partner.
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