Intimate partner killings, criminal defences and the law

dc.contributor.authorSithole, Patience Thandeka
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-05T10:37:47Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionA research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Laws, In the Faculty of Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
dc.description.abstractThe Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 in section 9 resoundingly guarantees the ‘equal protection and benefit of the law’ to all who are within the Republic. This undertaking is a crucial part of the South African democracy, and it is a manifestation of the law’s progression from being grossly and arbitrarily discriminatory, to becoming more inclusive and considerate of people from all walks of life. Contrarily though, a close analysis of some aspects of the law as it currently exists, shows that equality before the law is more aspirational than it is a reality. Women, in particular, are often overlooked and subjected to unfairness by the same law that, in theory, vows to protect them. The lack of accommodation of abused women who kill, by the private defence ground of justification, under criminal law is an apt example of the law’s marginalisation of women. This marginalisation manifests itself in the rigid approaches to cases of abused women who kill. The typical approach is the objective ‘reasonable person’ standard which is effective in most instances but has fallen short in cases of abuse, as such cases require consideration of the abused woman’s unique set of circumstances. This calls for a closer exploration of the specific and subjective factors of women’s experiences in order to comprehend the nature and extent of the abuse. Although expert witness evidence is admissible in these cases, the weight placed on such evidence is minimal, often leading to a miscarriage of justice. In view of that, this paper serves to play a dual role of re-identifying the inadequacies that continue to exist under the private defence laws in South Africa, while simultaneously providing recommendations on how the law can be developed to successfully address these inadequacies.
dc.description.submitterMM2025
dc.facultyFaculty of Commerce, Law and Management
dc.identifier0009-0003-1310-5418
dc.identifier.citationSithole, Patience Thandeka. (2024). Intimate partner killings, criminal defences and the law [Masters dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/45072
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/45072
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights© 2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.schoolSchool of Law
dc.subjectUCTD
dc.subjectSouth Africa
dc.subjectintimate partner violence
dc.subjectabused women who kill
dc.subjectprivate defence
dc.subjectgendered law
dc.subjectreasonable woman standard
dc.subject.primarysdgSDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutions
dc.titleIntimate partner killings, criminal defences and the law
dc.typeDissertation

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