THE IMMINENCE RULE FOR SELF-DEFENSE AND VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

A PROPOSAL BASED ON THE IDEAL OF FREEDOM AS NON-DOMINATION

Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of whether, in the context of gender violence, a battered woman who kills her abuser when he is completely off guard can be justified under the rules of self-defense. In favor of the admissibility of self-defense in such situations, it has been argued that either the traditional requirement of imminence of the aggression must be dispensed with, or the aggression of the abuser complies with this requirement because it is of a permanent or incessant nature. After rejecting the first proposal, both for its theoretical foundations and its practical consequences, it is argued in favor of considering the violence exercised by the batterer as a kind of radical domination, which satisfies the requirement of actuality or imminence.