Under domestic law, a woman may be allowed to explain the circumstances of her case to the court including any history of sexual and gender-based violence to prove self-defence. But the lack of gender responsive training for the lawyers who represent women may nevertheless limit their ability to do so. “If a woman is found guilty of murder, however, her history cannot be considered as a mitigating factor to reduce her sentence because of the death sentence” this is according to the “Woman Wahala Na Prison” report. This practice according to Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice and AdvocAid goes against international legal standards. Self-defense in Sierra Leone is defined in common law as a sudden reaction to an immediate threat of violence.
“I was a 14-year-old schoolgirl when a man who was older than me impregnated me. My family decided I should marry him in a traditional wedding so that I wouldn’t give birth out of wedlock. We later moved to Freetown and I gave birth to a baby boy. My husband was financially, physically and emotionally abusive. Every time he was angry at me, he would rape me. He didn’t even give me money to cook and care for our kid, so I started cooking and selling fish to support me and the boy. I reported my husband to the police, but they did nothing. One day, my husband ate the food I was going to sell for survival and so I asked him to pay me money. He said he would not pay me, and he started beating me. I had a knife in my hand because I was cooking when he started squeezing my throat. I stabbed him on his side, and he died” a woman in prison narrating her story to the researchers.
However, research has shown that women who are victims of long term acts of domestic violence can have ‘slow-burn’ reactions. The victim may be aware that an immediate response is likely to be more dangerous. The ‘slow-burn’ reaction may also be due to the cumulative impact of long term abuse. In recognition of the role of SGBV in women committing violent crimes, some countries have developed a more gender-sensitive partial defence, which considers mitigating circumstances, such as a history of SGBV, to reduce the culpability of the defendant. “While the intent to kill may be established, a defendant can be found guilty of the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter and not murder due to the mitigating circumstances under partial defences. A gender-specific partial defence recognizes that a person may have a slower reaction to violence, which is more appropriate for victims of domestic abuse.”
“This approach arguably corrects a gendered imbalance whereby men who lose self control in the heat of the moment are favored over women towards whom juries are generally less sympathetic under such circumstances”. Another incarcerated woman explained that her husband left her for another woman. “He wouldn’t give me more than 2,000 Leones ($0.20) every now and then for our child to eat. One day I was having a walk with my child tied to my back when I saw my husband. He came close to me and asked me to leave so I said that he should leave. He removed his belt and started flogging me. So, I lowered because I wanted to throw my shoe at him, but he pushed me and my child to the ground. That’s when I lost my temper. I picked up a bottle and threw it at him. He died at the hospital.”
By Zainab Iyamide Joaque