Self defense

Dear Atty. Angela,

I work for a volunteer group that caters to abused women and children. I was informed that one of our female victims recently got arrested and is facing murder case as she allegedly killed her spouse. Upon interview, she told me that she has consistently been beaten by her husband almost three times a week when he is drunk. One day when her husband went home drunk and they got into a fight, he attacked her with a knife and she was able to avoid it. When she got hold of the knife, she stabbed him which led to his death. Could she raise self-defense in the case?

Dina

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Dear Dina,

In the case of People v. Genosa, G.R. No. 135981 (2004), the Supreme Court elucidated on the concept of Battered Woman Syndrome, to wit:

“A battered woman has been defined as a woman “who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or psychological behavior by a man in order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern for her rights. Battered women include wives or women in any form of intimate relationship with men.”

In order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at least twice. The usual traits of a battered woman are low self-esteem, traditional beliefs about the home, the family and the female sex role; emotional dependence upon the dominant male; the tendency to accept responsibility for the batterer’s actions; and false hopes that the relationship will improve.

The severe beatings repeatedly inflicted may constitute a form of cumulative provocation that broke down the wife’s psychological resistance and self-control. This “psychological paralysis” suffered diminished her will power and could be a mitigating or justifying circumstance.

In this case, the abused woman faced consistent beatings from her husband and was fatally attacked by him. As such, she could raise and invoke self-defense but it is important for her to prove the justifying circumstance of self-defense by clear and convincing evidence.

Atty. Angela Antonio