Victimology Case Study: Battered Woman Syndrome in R v Lavallee

This case study analyzes the R v Lavallee case, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that recognized Battered Woman's Syndrome (BWS) as a legitimate legal defense. The paper evaluates how BWS was used to defend Angelique Lyn Lavallee, who shot her abusive partner. It discusses the emotional and situational factors that compel victims to stay in abusive relationships, also addressing the prevalence of domestic violence against men. The study references various sources to support its analysis of the Lavallee case and the broader implications of BWS in criminal law and victimology. The conclusion highlights the uniqueness of the case in establishing BWS defense based on psychiatric testimony.

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Victimology
Battered Woman's Syndrome

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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the case of “Angelique Lyn Lavallee” in
order to understand how Battered Woman's Syndrome (BWS) can be used as a defense by
parties to avoid criminal penalties. The judgment was given by the Supreme Court of Canada
in the case of R v Lavallee [1990] 1 S.C.R. 852 in which the battered woman syndrome
(BWS) was recognized by the court. This is a leading case in which the court delivered
justice to Angelique Lyn Lavallee by recognizing BWS as a genuine legal defense (Lexum,
n.d.). Lavallee shot Kevin Rust who was her common-law partner in the back of his head
when he was leaving the room after conducting a heated argument with her.
The court found that in their relationship, Rust frequently abused Lavallee. During the
proceedings, a psychiatrist testified that Rust terrorized Lavallee and she felt trapped in their
relationship (Sheehy, 2016). She felt like she is unable to escape from abuses of Rust. The
psychiatrist provided that Lavallee sincerely believed that shooting Rust is the only option
which she had to escape the relationship because Rust threatened her by telling her that
“either you kill me or I will get you” (Sheehy, 2016).
When the case was first presented before a jury, Lavallee was found guilty of second-
degree murder based on self-defence; however, this judgment was overturned by the majority
of the Manitoba Court of Appeal in which the case was sent back for retrial (MacKinnon,
2016). Lastly, the case went to the Supreme Court in which the decision was given in favor of
Lavallee based on the defense of BWS. The offender was not convicted in this case based on
the defense of BWS. This case was unique because it established the defense of BWS based
on the testimony of a psychiatrist (Tyson, 2012).
There are various factors which compel a victim to stay in an abusive relationship
which can be categorized into two types: emotional and situational reasons. Emotional
reasons include due to fear of major life change, lack of emotional support, helplessness, and

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attachment to the partner or others (Lee, Kim, Bhave & Duffy, 2016). Situational reasons
include economic dependence, fear of losing custody of children, fear of emotional damage
to children, social isolation, fear of physical harm, religions constraints, lack of alternative
housing and others. These factors make it challenging for victims to get out of the abusive
relationship, and they continued to suffer abuse from their partner (Tyson, 2012).
Domestic violence and abuse are common against men as a report shows that more
than 40 per cent of domestic victims is male who is assaulted by girlfriends and wives
(Campbell, 2010). With the growth in feminist movements, the number of men who are
assaulted is increasing; however, due to social pressure, they found it difficult to come out
against these assaults due to embarrassment. Men are assaulted due to hormonal influences,
mental disorder, personality traits, religious factors and other social factors (Drijber,
Reijnders & Ceelen, 2013). Women rely on vulnerability to abuse men who are not able to
take action against them due to the fear of embarrassment in society.

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References
Campbell, D. (2010). More than 40% of domestic violence victims are male, report reveals.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/sep/05/men-victims-
domestic-violence
Drijber, B. C., Reijnders, U. J., & Ceelen, M. (2013). Male victims of domestic
violence. Journal of Family Violence, 28(2), 173-178.
Lee, K., Kim, E., Bhave, D. P., & Duffy, M. K. (2016). Why victims of undermining at work
become perpetrators of undermining: An integrative model. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 101(6), 915.
Lexum. (n.d.). R. v. Lavallee. Retrieved from
https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/599/index.do
MacKinnon, C. A. (2016). Substantive equality revisited: A reply to Sandra
Fredman. International Journal of Constitutional Law, 14(3), 739-746.
Sheehy, E. (2016). Defending battered women in the public sphere. International Journal for
Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 5(2), 81-95.
Tyson, D. (2012). Sex, culpability and the defence of provocation. Abingdon: Routledge.