In many respects, the term battered women syndrome is an unfortunate nomenclature used in relation to a woman’s prolonged and repeated exposure to domestic violence (often involves sexual humiliation). Unlike a single traumatic event, prolonged and/or repeated exposure to trauma may result in the development of a complex trauma syndrome (Zepinic, 2017). Many battered women report total physical and psychological dominance by the abuser and many being coerced into immoral and humiliating sexual practices. Most of the victims of domestic terror involve the sacrifice of children—the battered woman will report that, in relationship with the abuse, she did not care about herself but has been concerned about her children. In the courtroom, there is often evidence that the perpetrator also abused children even threatening the woman that he is going to kill them if she reports to anyone violence and torture, or if a battered woman attempts to leave the abuser. The battered woman is also a victim of a microcosm of the bias within the principles of the criminal law in general and criminal defences in particular. Domestic violence is not a new phenomenon; however, the battered woman is often in spot-lite because she managed to kill her abuser before he killed her. In addition, to induce fear, the abuser seeks to destroy the trauma victim’s sense of self, identity, and autonomy. On the other hand, due to the psychological and physical dominance, domestic captivity, fear of more abusive trauma, and fear for the children’s safety, the battered woman very rarely asks for any help or therapy due to developed trauma symptoms, often accompanied by physical injuries.
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