This article explores the vulnerability of many UK female offenders and their experiences of domestic abuse that drives their criminality. Now that coercive control by domestic partners is more widely understood, criminal defences should take into account the impact it has upon domestic abuse victim/defendants. The Prison Reform Trust campaigned for the introduction of legal reform that would end convictions of people who committed crimes as a direct result of domestic abuse victimization. The reform has been considered during the debates on the 2021 Domestic Abuse Bill; however, the government rejected the proposal. This article considers how the application of domestic abuse defences can reduce the female prison population and discusses why legal reform is necessary.

本文探讨了许多英国女性罪犯的脆弱性，以及她们因家庭虐待而犯罪的经历。既然家庭伴侣的强制控制得到了更广泛的理解，刑事辩护应该考虑到它对家庭虐待受害者/被告的影响。监狱改革信托基金致力于引入法律改革，结束对因家庭虐待受害而直接犯罪的人的定罪。改革已在 2021 年家庭虐待法案的辩论中得到考虑；然而，政府拒绝了该提议。本文考虑了家庭虐待辩护的应用如何减少女性监狱人口，并讨论了为什么有必要进行法律改革。