Domestic and intimate partner violence

Mrs. Kontrová, (the claimant) a married women with two children, filed a criminal complaint against her husband, accusing him of assaulting and beating her with an electric cord. In her complaint, she mentioned the long history of physical and psychological abuse by her husband and submitted a medical report indicating that her latest injuries would prevent her from working for at least seven days. This statement was later modified upon the advice of a police officer, so that it could have been treated as a minor offence and the police decided to take no further action.

Domestic and intimate partner violence. The claimant, a married women with two children, filed a criminal complaint against her husband, accusing him of assaulting and beating her with an electric cord. In her complaint, she mentioned the long history of physical and psychological abuse by her husband and submitted a medical report indicating that her latest injuries would prevent her from working for at least seven days.

In Krystyna v. Janusz, 127 Conn. App. 586 (2011), the plaintiff sought a restraining order under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-15 to protect herself, her minor son, and her adult daughter from her husband, alleging a pattern of escalating alcohol-fueled threats and dangerous conduct.

The appellant, a battered woman, killed her abusive partner after an argument in which he threatened her life. In her defense, the appellant offered the expert testimony of a psychiatrist who testified regarding battered woman syndrome. The appellant was ultimately acquitted. The Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal, and the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether the expert testimony of the psychiatrist should have come before the court and whether the judge’s instructions on said testimony were appropriate.

The law includes a set of preventative measures aimed at preventing domestic violence among others crimes and administrative offenses.  Art. 1 defines domestic violence as the intentional actions of a physical, psychological, or sexual nature against a family member that violate his or her rights, freedoms, or legitimate interests causing physical and/or mental suffering.  Art. 1 further defines family members to include relatives, dependents and other persons that live together in a common household.  Art.

The appellant was convicted of the murder of his romantic partner of eight years and was sentenced to life in prison.  On the night of the murder, the appellant first beat his partner in front of her three children. One of children called the police to report the beating, but the police failed to respond to the residence.  Following the beating, the appellant left the house, but returned an hour later, broke into the house, and stabbed his partner to death.  The appellant then drove his partner to the hospital where he was subsequently arrested.

As published in El Diario Oficial La Gaceta, the official newspaper of Honduras on April 6, 2013, Article 118-A defines femicide as a crime punishable by 30 to 40 years’ imprisonment.

Como se publicó en El Diario Oficial La Gaceta, el periódico oficial de Honduras el 6 de abril de 2013, el Artículo 118-A define el femicidio como un delito castigable con 30 a 40 años de prisión. 

The Law on Domestic Violence defines and prohibits domestic violence, classifying such practice as a crime for the first time. The definition of domestic violence includes not only physical acts, but also sexual, psychological, verbal abuse, among other forms of abuse, as a form of domestic violence, not being restricted to the family environment. Moreover, the law sets out this type of violence as a “public crime,” which means that any person may report its occurrence to the authorities or police.

Federal Law No. 11.340/2006 commonly known as “Lei Maria da Penha” (or Maria da Penha Act) creates a new body of legal provisions regarding domestic and familiar violence against women in Brazil and requires that public authorities develop policy and measures that aim to guarantee women's human rights within the scope of domestic and family relations. The law also addresses urgent protective measures for victims.

The law defines domestic and familiar violence against women as any action or inaction based on gender that results in death, injury, physical, sexual or psychological suffering, or moral or property damage within the domestic unit (space for the permanent conviviality of people, with or without family ties), within a family unit (individuals who are or consider themselves to be related, united by natural ties, affinity, or express will) or within any intimate relationship, regardless of cohabitation.