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EQUAL RIGHTS BETWEEN SEXES
reasonably expected to occur immediately”.® If there is no actual assault in
the given period of time, the argument for legitimate defence does not apply.
The law does not authorize post-attack defences nor pre-emptive actions
well in advance, since once the unlawful attack ends, the legitimate defence
situation is terminated. Alternatively, proportionality may also be exceeded,
which is a basic requirement as well.
It is nonetheless known that domestic violence is usually not a casual crime,
but a long process. Moreover, it can often last for years, be that physical or
psychological threats, assault or both (violence can be psychological abuse,
verbal abuse, economic violence, physical violence, rape). Research has shown
that women who have committed a life-threatening crime in self-defence have
long been participating in an abusive relationship to their detriment. As a
result, their previous victim status has been transformed into that of the per¬
petrator, but this is not necessarily taken into account by the authorities in
criminal proceedings. “In fact, there was also the case that the court considered
being the victim of long-term abuse to be an aggravating circumstance, ac¬
cusing the woman of not leaving the abusive relationship. Women convicted
of a life-threatening crime against their husband or partner have repented
despite their grave abuse in the past.”
The issue of establishing justifiable protection is equally problematic in
cases of violation of sexual self-determination. For this reason, the institution
of self-defence is specifically limited to cases where the parties get into a “fight”
situation, or when the abusers break into their apartment at night or armed,
so they are not left without the opportunity to a claim.
As far as the issue is concerned, raising the question of women in the con¬
text of legitimate protection also seeks to make this form of defence accessible
to men and women on equal terms. On the other hand, for the partner who is
in perpetual terror to have access to a fair and just remedy.
It is clear that traditional, hierarchical male-female relationships are at the
root of violent acts against human rights, and they drive the practice of law
enforcement as well. Thus, subjective factors adversely affecting women are
equally present in the application of legislation deemed to be objective or
equitable, and the masculine nature of the law continues to shine through the
proceedings. We could of course continue to line out legal anomalies (abortion,
sexual harassment issues, etc.), human rights abuse in criminal proceedings.
Psychological and other structural explanations could also be included. The
main aim here was, however, to raise awareness of the issues of the theoreti¬
cally phrased “justice” and the need for legal development based on it. In ad¬
dition, the aim was to give concrete examples of where women’s questions are
6 Zsalek, H. (2013): A jogos védelem jelenleg hatályos és a 2013. év július hó 1. napján hatályba
lépő új törvényi szabályozásának összehasonlító elemzése, Ihemis, 2013. június (12), 405.
§7 Tóth: A nők elleni..., 18.