{"id":4087,"date":"2021-12-13T16:03:32","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T16:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/?post_type=resources&#038;p=4087"},"modified":"2025-12-22T12:29:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:29:53","slug":"litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women","status":"publish","type":[],"link":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Evidence indicates that the majority of women who kill their intimate partners are, in fact,<br \/>\ndefending their lives and\/or the lives of their children from an attack within the context of domestic violence. However, despite the existence of legal defences, many women who try to protect themselves from imminent harm, or even death, face barriers to accessing justice and end up being convicted of and imprisoned for murder or other violent offences against life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Download the guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4j9CNst\">English<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4paM0lA\">Georgian<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3KJOKIJ\">Russian<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3Y7SJ4I\">Ukrainian<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating these issues or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Evidence indicates that the majority of women who kill their intimate partners are, in fact, defending their lives and\/or the lives of their children from an attack within the context&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4093,"parent":0,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"country":[],"theme":[117],"class_list":["post-4087","resources","type-resources","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","theme-discrimination","type-legalguide"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-22T12:29:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SDG.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"836\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SDG.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/\",\"name\":\"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/ru\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-13T16:03:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-22T12:29:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/en_gb\\\/resources\\\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/ru\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/ru\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/ru\\\/\",\"name\":\"European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/ehrac.org.uk\\\/ru\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)","description":"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)","og_description":"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.","og_url":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/","og_site_name":"European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)","article_modified_time":"2025-12-22T12:29:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":836,"height":419,"url":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SDG.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/SDG.png","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/","url":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/","name":"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women - European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg","datePublished":"2021-12-13T16:03:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-22T12:29:53+00:00","description":"This Guide is intended to assist practitioners with some experience of litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women, or of litigating internationally. It identifies the main obstacles to justice in these cases and sets out the international standards to assist practitioners in challenging and overcoming these obstacles to the extent possible in current legal frameworks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Self-defence-guide-ENG-1-pdf.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/resources\/litigating-self-defence-in-contexts-of-domestic-violence-against-women\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Guide: Litigating self-defence in contexts of domestic violence against women"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/ru\/#website","url":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/ru\/","name":"European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC)","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/4087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resources"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4087"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/4087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6696,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resources\/4087\/revisions\/6696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/theme?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"special-resources","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type?post=4087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}