Domestic violence against women

BMJ 1995;311:964-965 (14 October)

Editorials

Domestic violence against women

Needs action from doctors and the health service

Two abused women were recently freed from prison in Britain.Emma Humphreys and Sara Thornton had previously been found guiltyof murdering violent partners and had received mandatory lifesentences. Humphreys's conviction was quashed by judges in theCourt of Appeal, whose ruling recognised the months of crueltyshe had experienced from her boyfriend, including beatings andrapes. Thornton's case is pending appeal. In future cases cumulativeabuse will be seen as possible provocation, allowing a chargeof manslaughter rather than murder.

The violence that both of these women suffered is common. Mooneyfound that 27% of women surveyed in north London had experiencedphysical injury from their partners or former partners, while37% had experienced mental cruelty and 23% had been raped.¹In the 1992 British crime survey, 11% of women who had livedwith a partner reported physical violence against . . . [Full text of this article]

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Middleton, J D, Rao, J N, Reid, J A (1996). Health services must develop services to reduce crime and violence. BMJ 312: 1156c-1157 [Full text]