Singh, Sarah ORCID: 0000-0003-4968-2201
(2021)
Punishing Mothers for Men's Violence: Failure to Protect Legislation and the Criminalisation of Abused Women.
Feminist Legal Studies, 29 (2).
pp. 1-24.
Text
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Abstract
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.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Child death, Crime, Domestic abuse, Failure to protect, Motherhood |
Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Law and Social Justice |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
Date Deposited: | 12 May 2021 08:07 |
Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2023 22:47 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10691-021-09455-5 |
Related URLs: | |
URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3122359 |