Portrayal of women as intimate partner domestic violence perpetrators

A Culture of Consent: Legal Practitioners' Experiences of Representing Women Who Have Been Misidentified as Predominant Aggressors on Family Violence Intervention Orders in Victoria, Australia

There is currently unprecedented attention in Australia on the misidentification of women victim-survivors as family violence 'predominant aggressors'-this focus has largely been oriented towards the role of the police. Less research has considered court responses to misidentification and specifically, the role that legal practitioners play in recognising and responding to clients who have been misidentified. This article addresses this key gap in the literature through an exploration of 18 legal practitioners' experiences of representing misidentified clients in the civil protection order system in the Australian state of Victoria. The findings suggest that legal practitioners face a number of challenges when representing clients who have been misidentified and that the magistrates' courts are ill-equipped to respond to misidentification. As a consequence, a culture of respondents consenting to orders that should never have been made against them is maintained. This article calls for a greater focus on the role that the courts can play in providing a 'safety net' for victim-survivors who have been misidentified.

Particularities of Offenders Imprisoned for Domestic Violence from Social and Psychiatric Medical-Legal Perspectives

Background and Objectives: It is known that there may be an interconditionality between social status, personality disorders, and aggressive behavior. This study aimed to analyze the social and psychiatric diagnosis characteristics in subjects imprisoned for domestic violence acts compared to other types of aggressive behaviors. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study using psychiatric medical-legal reports at the National Institute of Legal Medicine "Mina Minovici" Bucharest from 2016 to 2020. Results: We included 234 cases in our analysis, from which 132 (56%) were domestic violence offenders (DVO), and 102 (44%) were violence offenders imprisoned for other aggressions (OVO). Overall, DVOs were older than OVOs (43.0 +/- 14.7 vs. 36.1 +/- 16.6 years-old). In both study groups, most subjects were men, but the DVO group had more women than the OVO group: 23 cases (17%) and 3 cases (3%), respectively. In 14 cases (11%), previous criminal records were found from the DVO and 31 (30%) from the OVO group. Significantly fewer DVO were chronic psychoactive substance users: 83 (63%) in the DVO group versus 78 (86%) in the OVO group. Significantly more DVO had suicidal tendencies 26 (20%) compared to OVO 9 (9%). DVO subjects had significantly less often unsocialized conduct disorder or antisocial personality disorder compared to the OVO group. Conclusions: We found that DVO, compared to the OVO, were more numerous, older, less abusive, with a less frequent history of psychoactive substance abuse and addictions, and were less frequently indifferent to the committed acts.

"Not an Either/or Situation": The Minimization of Violence Against Women In United Kingdom "Domestic Abuse" Policy

Proposed new legislation in England and Wales on domestic violence and abuse-the "Domestic Abuse Bill"-is underpinned by changes to criminal law, specifically the introduction of coercive and controlling behavior as set out in the Serious Crime Act 2015. The new Bill commits the British government to four main objectives with, it is claimed, prevention and protection at their heart. What is notable, however, is the rubric shift from "violence" to "abuse" in the proposed new legislation and its subscription to a gender symmetry paradigm that suggests a "watering down" of the government's response to gendered violence.

Forced Marriage, Coercive Control, and Conducive Contexts: The Experiences of Women in Scotland

This article is based on the first Scottish study of survivor perspectives of forced marriage. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight survivors. Our thematic analysis identified five key themes: understandings of forced marriage, the "grooming" process, betrayal, legal responses, and women's resistance. Utilizing Stark's framework of coercive control and Kelly's concept of conducive contexts, we illuminate hitherto under-appreciated dynamics of forced marriage: (a) the conceptualization of forced marriage as a process rather than an event, (b) the role of mothers within patriarchal contexts, and (c) betrayals of family and services as compounding long-term adverse effects of forced marriage.

Perpetrators of late life polyvictimization

Most available data about perpetrators of elder abuse are included as part of the description of abuse experienced by older adults. Embedded within this literature is some evidence that perpetrators of elder abuse are involved in polyvictimization. Drawing upon prior empirical research of apparent cases of polyvictimization, this article focuses on what is known about the personal characteristics of perpetrators of polyvictimization, highlights the context of the relationship between perpetrators of polyvictimization and their older adult victims, addresses the potential consequences for perpetrators of polyvictimization, and provides recommendations for future research and practice. Findings elucidate characteristics of and potential outcomes for perpetrators of late life polyvictimization.

In Her Own Words: Women Describe Their Use of Force Resulting in Court-Ordered Intervention

Although researchers and practitioners have established that men and women use force in their intimate heterosexual relationships for very different reasons, there is a dearth of information regarding the events that surrounds women's arrests and subsequent court orders to anti-violence intervention programming. This information is fundamental to improving Criminal Legal System (CLS) and community-partner understanding of and response to intimate partner violence (IPV). The authors meet this need by analyzing 208 women's descriptions of their arrests and subsequent court order to intervention programs for using force. From these, the authors frame nine categorical descriptions of women's actions. The descriptions and categories highlight areas for CLS and community-partners' growing understanding of this complex issue.

Family Violence in Domestic Homicides

This article examines the impact of legislative reforms enacted in 2005 in Victoria, Australia, on legal responses to women charged with murder for killing their intimate partner. The reforms provided for a broader understanding of the context of family violence to be considered in such cases, but we found little evidence of this in practice. This is partly attributable to persistent misconceptions among the legal profession about family violence and why women may believe it necessary to kill a partner. We recommend specialized training for legal professionals and increased use of family violence evidence to help ensure women’s claims of self-defense receive appropriate responses from Victorian courts.