Punishing Mothers for Men’s Violence

Failure to Protect Legislation and the Criminalisation of Abused Women

Bibliographic Data

ID12290658
AuthorsSarah Singh (0000-0003-4968-2201, University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume29
Issue2
Pages181-204
Publication date2021-05-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Legal Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-3622 • E-ISSN: 1572-8455
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10691-021-09455-5
PMID33967410
OpenAlexW3157927389
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited46

This article explores the gender dynamics of 'causing or allowing a child to die', contrary to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, section 5. This offence was intended to allow for prosecution where a child had been killed and it was uncertain who had killed him/her, but also to allow for prosecution of non-violent defendants who failed to protect him/her. More women than men have been charged and convicted of this offence signifying a reversal of usual patterns of prosecution and conviction. This analysis interrogates how section 5 criminalises women who have experienced domestic abuse. Drawing on a case observation, reported cases and media reports of cases, I suggest this offence derives from and perpetuates patriarchal constructs of motherhood. Grounded in a feminist approach building on women's concrete experiences of law, I conclude that section 5 should be amended so that it is only used where it cannot be ascertained which defendant actively harmed a child

Conviction · Criminal law · Criminology · Domestic violence · Human rights · Legislation · Medical emergency · Poison control · Political science · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Child Abuse and Trauma · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Law · Medicine · Psychology

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