violence against women
Analysis of Jurisprudence Involving Sexual and other Gender-Based Violence During Conflict
Avon Global Center 2013 Women and Justice Conference Report
Bheki Amos Mkhaliphi v. Rex
Appellant convicted of murdering a woman and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Appellant appealed the verdict and sentence, claiming that he did not possess the requisite intent to kill and mitigating circumstances that he was 35-years old, a first offender, gainfully employed and a breadwinner supporting two children should reduce his sentence. The High Court dismissed his appeal finding that the stab wounds to the victim demonstrated intent to kill and that the mitigating circumstances were properly weighed when the sentence was determined.
Breest v. Haggis (N.Y. 2019)
In Breest v. Haggis (1st Dep’t 2019), the plaintiff brought civil claims under the New York City Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act (VGMVPA), asserting that a well-known filmmaker sexually assaulted her and that the assault constituted “a crime of violence motivated by gender.” The defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that the complaint did not adequately allege that gender bias was a motivating factor.
Case Number E.1999/35, K.2002/104
The Constitutional Court found that the legislature could take necessary measures to reduce violence within families. Articles 1.1 of the Law on the Protection of the Family allows judges to take measures against one spouse, not both, and not against the children or members of the family, if a spouse has subjected another family member to domestic violence. The Gulyaly Peace Court found that because the Articles did not provide for an injunction or penalty if a child committed a violent act, rather than a spouse or parent, the Articles violated the principle of equality.
Caso Rol N° 187-2023 Corte Suprema de Chile
In Case No. 187-2023, the Supreme Court of Chile ruled in a landmark gender justice case concerning the murder of a transgender woman. On May 16, 2023, the Oral Criminal Court of Iquique convicted the defendant of femicide. However, on October 4, 2023, the Iquique Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, holding that the victim did not legally qualify as a woman under the femicide statute because official records still listed her as male. After remand, the trial court once again convicted the defendant of femicide.
Código Penal de Nicaragua Artículo 494 (sexual crimes in armed conflict)
Article 494 of the Penal Code criminalizes sexual crimes committed in the context of armed conflict, whether international or internal. It explicitly covers rape, sexual slavery, sexual exploitation, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, and other forms of sexual violence committed against persons protected under international humanitarian law.
Erdogu v. Canada
Ms. Erdogu, a Turkish national, fled to Canada and filed a claim for refugee protection to escape persecution for her political and religious activity in Turkey. Because she was both an ethnic and religious minority (Kurdish/Alevi), she was arrested in Turkey on a number of occasions, during which she was detained, interrogated, beaten, and sexually molested. Further, she claimed to be at risk because a violent ex-boyfriend had informed her father of the former couple’s sexual relationship, leading her father to declare his intent to kill her in order to preserve the family’s honor. Ms.
In re Civil Commitment of S.S. (N.J. 2004)
In the case In re Civil Commitment of S.S., 372 N.J. Super. 13, 855 A.2d 30 (App. Div. 2004), the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, affirmed a judgment involuntarily committing the petitioner to the Special Treatment Unit as a sexually violent predator under the Sexually Violent Predator Act, N.J. Stat.