Abused women who are coerced to commit crime have no adequate legal defence. Historically, martial coercion may have been pled, but since its repeal and lack of replacement, abused women have been left without adequate protection in the criminal justice system. Duress would seem to be the logical defence in such a situation, but its construction by the courts means that women are still left with no defence. If a woman resists the coercion to commit crime, and instead protects herself against the abuse, she will equally have no suitable defence. Parliament were presented with the opportunity to rectify this problem when passing the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, but despite the Lords’ support, proposals were rejected by the Commons. Whilst research shows that crime committed under coercive control is not an insignificant problem, the current law does not protect some of the most vulnerable from prosecution.

被胁迫犯罪的受虐待妇女没有足够的法律辩护。从历史上看，军事胁迫可能已被请求，但由于其被废除和缺乏替代，被虐待的妇女在刑事司法系统中没有得到足够的保护。在这种情况下，胁迫似乎是合乎逻辑的辩护，但法院对胁迫的构建意味着女性仍然没有辩护。如果一个女人抗拒犯罪的胁迫，而是保护自己免受虐待，她同样没有适当的辩护。在通过《2021 年家庭虐待法》时，议会有机会纠正这个问题，但尽管上议院支持，提案还是被下议院否决。虽然研究表明，在强制控制下实施的犯罪并不是一个无关紧要的问题，