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Battered Woman Syndrome in Female Perpetrators in the Republic of North Macedonia

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The Handbook on Female Criminality in the Former Yugoslav Countries

Abstract

Over the past few decades, researchers have been warning about the occurrence of “battered woman syndrome – BWS.” It appears as a side effect of domestic violence, which comes mostly from the intimate partner. BWS is also used to explain the phenomenon when a woman commits serious violent crimes in a state of potential self-help. The reason why we shed light on this topic is the wrong treatment of these women in practice. For years, women who kill their aggressor have been treated as murderers and given long prison sentences, without any adequate treatment for their previous victimization.

In the Republic of Macedonia, at the end of 2017, we conducted a survey on all women who were serving prison sentences. Four of the women charged with murder, out of a total of six, said that they had previously been victimized and subjected to some form of violence. The women who committed the violent crime, and with whom we have spoken, had never been convicted before. All were sentenced to more than 5 years in prison, and none of them had received appropriate penitentiary treatment as a victim of domestic violence. The practice in our country does not even recognize the specific type of the crime (although the law does) to subordinate the crime under the appropriate article during the procedural part.

This chapter raises awareness to a problem that exists in this country but is still not properly recognized in practice. The only case that inspires hope for possible improvement is singled out and analyzed as good practice. However, the present legal arrangement is still not sufficiently well defined to respect the position of such a woman. Meanwhile, men still have a strong influence in the family and are in the role of a perpetrator in most of the crimes committed against women. Thus, the effective knowledge awareness and fight against this influence, i.e., previous victimization and development of BWS, would at the same time mean and be essential to the prevention of a good number of crimes committed by women.

A battered woman is 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 any concern for her rights. [In] order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at least twice.

—Dr. Lenore Walker

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Notes

  1. 1.

    World Health Organization (2021). Violence against women. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women Accessed 11 February 2022.

  2. 2.

    Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, decision on request for public data, No. 1612–753/3 from June 2021, available: https://mvr.gov.mk/Upload/Editor_Upload//%D0%9A%D0%94%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%98%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BE%D0%B42018%20%D0%B4%D0%BE%20%D1%98%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%20%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82202%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B02020%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0.pdf

  3. 3.

    Decision on responding to a request for free access to public information, Department of Public Relations and Strategic Affairs, Sector for Public Relations and Protocol, Ministry of Interior of the Republic of North Macedonia, No. 16.1.2-182/3 from 2.3.2022.

  4. 4.

    United Nation Rules for Treatment of Women Prisoners and noncustodial measures for women offenders (Bangkok Rules), Resolution 2010/13, United Nation.

  5. 5.

    Judgment K. No. 3409–14, dated 27 March 2015 Basic Court Skopje 1 – Skopje.

  6. 6.

    http://time.mk/c/a153fa5b3d/. Accessed: 17 February 2022.

  7. 7.

    See more – https://akademik.mk/ubistvo-vo-kochansko-zhena-so-metalna-tsevka-si-go-ubila-soprugot-4/. Last accessed: 18 February 2021.

  8. 8.

    Judgment K.br.130/14 from 7 July 2014, Basic Court Kocani – The enacting clause of the first instance verdict clearly states that the crime was committed in a state of significantly reduced mental capacity that was present in the woman. The crime was committed under Article 123 paragraph 1, which is charged “in a state of significantly reduced comprehensibility, because at the time of the commission of the crime the defendant was in a state of heightened emotional tension, i.e., under the influence of intense emotional experiences of fear or personal endangerment.” The defense in the procedure comes down to the fact that the defendant had been a victim of long-term domestic violence.

  9. 9.

    Article 125 covers the legal qualification of acts of deprivation of life committed by a person who, through no fault of their own, has been brought into a state of strong irritability by attack or severe insult (in this case, stated in the judgment, verbal argument) or as a consequence of domestic violence by the murdered, which in a given case is more obvious and runs throughout the text of the judgment although not with the real name. According to Article 125, a person can be punished from 1 to 5 years. The defendant, in this case charged under Article 123 paragraph 1, where the maximum sentence of imprisonment is at least 5 years, was given 6 years of imprisonment.

  10. 10.

    Judgment no. KZ – 526/14 from 06.10.2014, Court of Appeal Stip.

  11. 11.

    Vecer (2008) Macedonian women killed and flushed her husband down the drain. https://vecer.mk/uncategorized/%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0-%D0%B3%D0%BE-%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%82-%D0%B8-%D0%B3%D0%BE-%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B8/. Accessed 18 February 2022.

  12. 12.

    https://time.mk/arhiva/?d1=01&m1=01&y1=1991&d2=31&m2=12&y2=2012&all=0&vreme=1&fulltext=2&timeup=2&show=1&q=%D0%B7%D0%B0%20%D1%81%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%20%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%86%2012%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%20%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80&read=fe85c7f8e449245. Last access: February 18, 2022.

  13. 13.

    Vecer (2009) 12 years’ imprisonment for the woman murderer. https://vecer.mk/uncategorized/12-%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8-%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%86/. Accessed February 18, 2022.

  14. 14.

    Skopje1.mk (2022) https://skopje1.mk/archives/162576. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  15. 15.

    Lider (2022) Prolonged detention for Pale. https://lider.mk/prodolzen-pritvorot-na-veleshankata-pale/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  16. 16.

    HERA (2022) https://hera.org.mk/reakcija-ojo-veles-itno-da-ja-smeni-odlukata-vo-sluchajot-na-pale-iloska/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  17. 17.

    https://telma.com.mk/2021/10/03/%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%B4-1-700-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B8-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D0%B7/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  18. 18.

    https://republika.mk/vesti/crna-hronika/pale-se-branela-ova-ne-e-ubistvo-od-mig-reagiraat-od-helsinshki-po-obvinenieto-od-ojo-za-mladata-veleshanka/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  19. 19.

    https://mms.mk/270504/%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BD/; https://sitel.com.mk/veleshankata-pale-oslobodena-od-obvinenie/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  20. 20.

    https://sitel.com.mk/zhena-go-ubila-nevenchaniot-soprug-so-tvrd-predmet; https://fokus.mk/ubistvo-vo-tetovo/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  21. 21.

    https://jorm.gov.mk/pritvor-za-zhenata-ko%d1%98a-vo-tetovo-go-ubi-nevenchaniot-soprug/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  22. 22.

    https://mk.tv21.tv/zhena-si-go-ubila-soprugot-so-chekan-sama-se-prijavila-vo-politsija-maloletnata-kerka-zgrizhena-vo-sotsijalniot-tsentar/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  23. 23.

    https://jorm.gov.mk/obvinenie-za-zhenata-koja-go-lishi-od-zhiv/. Accessed 21 February 2022.

  24. 24.

    Article 123, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code of Macedonia says that imprisonment of at least 10 years or life imprisonment shall be ordered to whosoever deprives another of life by committing family violence and also if deprives a female of life, yet being aware of her pregnancy or the fact that she is underage.

  25. 25.

    https://www.mtsp.gov.mk/content/Strateski%20plan%20na%20MTSP%20za%2020212023%20FINALEN%2014.01.2021.doc

  26. 26.

    Report submitted by North Macedonia pursuant to Article 68, paragraph 1 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Baseline Report), 5 April 2022, https://rm.coe.int/grevio-inf-2022-5-state-report-north-macedonia/1680a618d5

  27. 27.

    For this topic – see more in the Shadow Report on the Implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in North Macedonia, Gender Equality Platform, 2022 https://mhc.org.mk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/shadow-report-grevio-2022-gender-equality-platform_april-20221.pdf

  28. 28.

    For that, the attack must be illegal, simultaneous, real, and identical. Equality, i.e., proportionality, must not be assessed only from the point of view of the final consequence; it must be assessed from the aspect of the means by which it is taken, the right to which it is directed, and the specific circumstances that surround it. A proportionality between the attack and the defense would exist only until the acts of the defense can be treated as necessary to repel the attack, which in cases of long-term victimization can easily overwhelm the defense itself, owing to accumulated anger, prevailing over the attack, and when it is at a given moment milder than before. But if a woman kills the attacker, who intended to kill her, in each situation, which attack was real and unlawful and the force used by the woman was simultaneous and proportional to the attack, with the intention to repel the attack by herself, without any prior intention to murder, then for such a murder committed by a woman, the illegality could be ruled out and she would not be punished.

  29. 29.

    Resolution 65/228, strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women, adopted by the General Assembly, United Nations, 31 March 2011 https://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prisonreform/crimeprevention/Model_Strategies_and_Practical_Measures_on_the_Elimination_of_Violence_against_Women_in_the_Field_of_Crime_Prevention_and_Criminal_Justice.pdf.

  30. 30.

    Provision 15(k) of the UN Updated Model Strategies and Practical Measures.

  31. 31.

    Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence Istanbul, Council of Europe, 11.V. 2011, https://rm.coe.int/168008482e

  32. 32.

    Intimate Partner Violence Victims Charged with Crime, Justice and Accountability for Victims of Battering Who Use Violence Against Their Batterers, The Prosecutor’s resource on violence against woman, AEqitas, Washington, 2010.

  33. 33.

    Ibid, p. 4.

  34. 34.

    Ibid, pg. 5.

  35. 35.

    Law on the Prevention and Protection from Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, Official Gazette of RSM, no. 24 from 29 January 2021.

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  1. Faculty of Law, Goce Delcev University, Stip, North Macedonia

    Elena Maksimova PhD & Olga Koshevaliska PhD

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  1. Elena Maksimova PhD
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  2. Olga Koshevaliska PhD
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Correspondence to Elena Maksimova PhD .

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  1. Faculty of Law, University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Bitola, North Macedonia

    Angelina Stanojoska

  2. Faculty of Law, University of Nis, Judicial Research Center, Nis, Serbia

    Darko Dimovski

  3. Faculty of Law, Goce Delcev University, Shtip, North Macedonia

    Elena Maksimova

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Maksimova, E., Koshevaliska, O. (2023). Battered Woman Syndrome in Female Perpetrators in the Republic of North Macedonia. In: Stanojoska, A., Dimovski, D., Maksimova, E. (eds) The Handbook on Female Criminality in the Former Yugoslav Countries. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27628-6_5

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