ABSTRACT
These defences are taken together here because they all involve an assessment of reasonableness, long a target for feminist legal critique. Dealing first with justifiable force, English law permits the use of such force as is reasonable to defend oneself or another.34 In such circumstances, the defendant is judged on the facts as she saw them (whether her perception of the threat was reasonable or otherwise). The question whether force was ‘reasonable’ is judged by reference both to whether it was ‘necessary’ (which, in turn, requires consideration of the perceived imminence of the threat and the possibility of alternative action) and whether the force used by the defendant was proportionate to the threat perceived by her.
