ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on an interview with Helena Kennedy QC by Catherine Itzin. It has been edited into the form of a narrative, covering a range of issues relating to women and the criminal justice system, and in particular explores the question of ‘Why do women kill?’. In Helena Kennedy’s experience of defending women, she asserts that most women kill in desperation, in self-defence or in the defence of their children. Women’s experience of violence and escape from violence has received much critical comment and campaigning for law reform over the past few years and some cases such as Sara Thornton, Kiranjit Ahluwalia and Emma Humphreys have achieved a high public profile as campaigners have fought for their release from life sentences. All three women had sustained years of violence and abuse from their partners and had killed in their attempts to stop the violence.
