In my master's thesis, I focus on femicide, which was the result of intimate partner violence.
In the theoretical introduction, I started with violence against women, where I describe the different gender roles of women and men and their influence on the concept of violence, which I also define below. I also touch on the way of judging violent acts. In continuation of the theoretical introduction, I focus on intimate partner violence, which I define, describe patterns, and list some actions that cause harm to the victim. I describe the factors and profiles of perpetrators of intimate partner violence based on their personality characteristics. The following is a description of the forms of violence, where when describing psychological violence, I draw attention to the different sensitivity to psychological violence compared to physical violence. I also focus on jealousy or male sexual ownership. I conclude the theoretical introduction with a definition of femicide and a description of the various characteristics associated with the execution of the crime. I also touch on the classification of the crime itself (murder or manslaughter). In the empirical part, I present the characteristics of the conducted qualitative case study and the results obtained through the analysis of research diary entries from the hearings and two interviews, the purpose of which was to clarify certain circumstances. The population is represented by women with permanent residence in the Republic of Slovenia, who were victims of intimate partner violence and were murdered by their partners in 2022. The sample is casual and non-random. In my research, I focused on the functioning of the defense and the prosecution, on the techniques of defending a criminal offense, and on control and possessiveness, which is expressed as jealousy. I asked myself four research questions I want to find out what happened in the family before, during, and after the critical event, what is the defense of the perpetrator of the crime, and what factors will influence the classification of the crime. I am also interested in the role of various institutions, such as the social work center and the police, in protecting victims of intimate partner violence.
I found out that the deceased was a victim of physical, sexual, and psychological violence before the critical event. The latter manifested itself through manipulation, jealousy or sexual possession, surveillance (cameras in the house, recording of private conversations, determining the time of arrival from work, checking phones, etc.). The accused first squeezed the deceased's jugular veins with the handle of a canvas bag, then stabbed her with a kitchen knife. How the crime was committed thus indicates the defendant's determination to kill his partner. The accused minimized and normalized the violence he had inflicted on the deceased and attributed the guilt for the violence and murder to the deceased. The Center for Social Work did not consider the deceased in the victim protection procedure. The police did not address the violence. During the conversation with the deceased, they did not perceive that she was a victim of violence. The police underestimated the level of risk and danger. The accused defended the crime so that he attributed the blame to the victim, who allegedly provoked him, and he reacted to the matter. The classification of the crime as murder was influenced by the defendant's jealousy, expert opinions, and surveillance of the deceased with cameras.
|
