Begränsad rätt till nödvärn? - Brottsoffrets begränsade rätt till nödvärn vid våld i nära relationer

Sammanfattning: Domestic violence has been a major social problem for many years. In 2018, 22 women and 4 men were killed in Sweden by their previous or present partner. Violence occurs in all types of relationships and follows the same pattern regardless of the parties' sexuality or inherent power dynamics. Through systematic mental degradation, violation, and isolation, violence becomes normalized in the relationship. Under certain circumstances, according to Swedish law, a person who is subjected to an ongoing or imminent crime has the right to self-defense. The regulation has been criticized for being designed according to a male violence norm that does not consider the vulnerability that women experience in situations of domestic violence. In situations with repeated violence it is from the victim’s point of view great reason to assume that there is a constant imminent threat of violence. I believe that the current interpretation of what constitutes lawful self-defense does not consider the psychological degradation that takes place through the normalization process in domestic violence. Additionally, the victim's vulnerable situation is not considered in the assessment of the defense of the violence. The self-defense law does not present a difference between violence in close relationships and, for example, violence that takes place on the street. Thus, the woman has the same obligation to leave her own home as a any person has to leave a public area. There are reasons to differentiate the victim's vulnerability in violence in close relationships from other situations where self-defense occurs, but there are no reasons to distinguish the victim's vulnerability due to the parties’ genders. By not addressing the existence of domestic violence in other relationships than where a man abuses a woman, the division implies that stereotypical notions of violence in close relationships are maintained.