Gender Bias in Justification of Lethal Force in Latin America

Abstract

This article offers a critique of the legal treatment afforded in Latin America to women who resort to lethal force against their partners in situations of domestic violence. Building on the existing literature concerning the way in which legal requirements of legitimate self-defense are construed in this type of case, the move proposed is to contrast the standards to which they are held with the requirements imposed in the region to security and armed forces facing organized criminal violence. I show that women who are alone, at the mercy of stronger victimizers, in places hidden from the public eye, are demanded significantly more restraint, and face significantly harsher legal treatment than men who have received training, are equipped with weapons, and have the military and police apparatuses of the state backing them up. Furthermore, given the way in which the militarization of security correlates with serious human rights violations, I claim that this scenario cannot be justified on normative grounds but rather can only be the result of gender-bias.