The Legal Response to Women Co-offenders: Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence and Coercive Control in Violent Co-offending Cases Involving Women and their Intimate Partners

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore the personal characteristics of the women co-accused in cases involving intimate partnership dynamics (i.e., IPV/coercive control). Secondly, the study aimed to explore the statutory and judicial responses to women co-accused of culpable homicide with their intimate partner in Canada. The goal of this research is to ensure just and proportionate treatment of women in the criminal justice system. A mixed-method approach was applied. Legal databases were searched using broad search terms to find Canadian cases of women co-accused of culpable homicide with their intimate partner from 1995 to 2021. Cases for which trial and sentencing decisions were available were analyzed. Analysis included reporting on demographic data, conducting a thematic analysis, and a case study approach. The results revealed that women’s involvement in co-accused cases tends to be secondary versus being equally involved or acting as the principal offender. In most cases, however, they are sentenced similarly to their co-accused. The fact that these women often are convicted of the same crime and sentenced similarly to their co-accused may be attributed to a variety of reasons, including the narrow defences available in Canadian criminal law to women in coercive relationships, the legislative treatment imposed for secondary liability, mandatory minimum sentences and the challenges judges and other legal actors have in understanding various types of coercion and their impact on women. Consistent with previous research, the thematic analysis found that these women are most likely to be perceived by the judge as a “bad” woman, followed by a “sad” woman. Only a small proportion of cases mentioned intimate partner violence between the co-accused. In these cases, the defence of duress was rejected at trial and the judges did not believe that the violence endured mitigated the culpability of these women for the purpose of sentencing. This research identified how the legal and judicial system responds to women who are co-accused of culpable homicide with their intimate partner. The findings have important implications for sentencing and law reform and highlight a need to bring the legal processes in sync with psychological factors.