Murder, manslaughter and domestic violence

Abstract

Taking a cue from the title of this book, this chapter is organised around the three themes murder, gender and responsibility. It begins by considering the shifting boundary between murder and manslaughter, and, contrary to common wisdom, the lack of consensus around these terms. The focus then shifts to gender, and a consideration of gendered patterns in homicide and femicide using the overlapping categories of domestic homicide and intimate partner homicides. It also demonstrates the value of more complex conceptions of gender to understanding patterns in homicide using an intersectional framework to explore the differential vulnerability of women to homicide. The third theme, responsibility, is examined by reference to legal responses to domestic homicide and intimate partner homicides for battered women. While some women have benefited from law reforms and shifts in legal practices, women who do not conform to idealised notions of what it means to be a battered woman or other ‘benchmarks’ continue to be disadvantaged.