New Zealand Universities Law Review 17(3) June 1997 : 292-328

This article examines battered women who kill their abusive partner in self-defence. Self-defence law is examined, and the author discusses Battered Woman Syndrome and its admissibility as evidence. New Zealand and Canadian self-defence laws are compared, and cases where women have killed their violent partners are used to highlight the complexities and inconsistencies of applying Battered Woman Syndrome as a defence. The article discusses how stereotypes of women influence how the self-defence law is interpreted. The author suggests that the main players in the justice system need to have a better understanding of the context in which women are led to kill their violent partners.