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1 – 8 of 8The criminal justice system uses oversimplified stock narratives that place women who kill into limiting categories of ‘bad’, ‘mad’ and/or ‘victim’. These narratives deny women's…
Abstract
The criminal justice system uses oversimplified stock narratives that place women who kill into limiting categories of ‘bad’, ‘mad’ and/or ‘victim’. These narratives deny women's agency by portraying their actions as lacking humanity, rationality and/or intentionality. Many feminist scholars argue that new narratives are needed to recognise women who kill as fully human, volitional subjects. This chapter uses the case of Maria Barberi to examine why and how defences founded on a victim-based agency fail. In 1895, Barberi killed Domenico Cataldo in a Manhattan barroom after enduring months of psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Her defence was grounded in the unwritten law – a widely held belief that people had the right to avenge their honour (when impugned by infidelity, seduction or sexual assault) with lethal violence. The case went through four stages: the initial trial, resulting in a murder conviction and death sentence; a nation-wide clemency campaign; an appeal; and a retrial, resulting in an acquittal. Throughout this process, Barberi's agency was undermined by negative stereotypes of gender and ethnicity, the political goals of women's rights activists, and Barberi's own self-interests. Ultimately, this case demonstrates that agency-based narratives are both difficult to deploy and desperately needed.
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Men typically commit more violent crime than women which has led to the concept that it is a male offence. Consequently, there is a tendency to suggest that female offenders are…
Abstract
Men typically commit more violent crime than women which has led to the concept that it is a male offence. Consequently, there is a tendency to suggest that female offenders are so atypical and abnormal that they require explanation, rather than accepting that all genders are capable of violent behaviour. Women who kill tend to challenge conceptualisations of normative femininity. Accordingly, in an attempt to understand female violence, historians and criminologists have placed women who kill into explanatory categories. Female murderers have often been portrayed as ‘mad’, ‘bad’ or ‘sad.’ This framework is responsible for the infantilisation, monsterisation and victimisation of violent women. It has also led to womanhood being put on trial: women are not only condemned for their crimes but also for failing to live up to feminine ideals. Nevertheless, the ‘mad’, ‘bad’ or ‘sad’ framework can be useful to historians as it is often the only narrative that survives. However, it needs to be recognised that while this framework allows historical perceptions of women's violence to be studied, women's narratives are often absent, distorted or overlooked.
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Eric Tchouamou Njoya and Aliyu Isah
This chapter provides an overview of the internal airline market in the Maghreb and examines the determinants of intra-Maghreb air traffic flows. Most accounts of recent…
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the internal airline market in the Maghreb and examines the determinants of intra-Maghreb air traffic flows. Most accounts of recent developments in the air transport markets in Africa have focused on the Continent as a whole and to some extent on Eastern and Southern African countries. Previous analysis of air transportation in the Maghreb has involved origins and destinations outside of the region. The analysis of domestic and intra-Maghreb traffic shows that the greatest share of traffic is concentrated on routes linking capital cities and commercial centers. Most intra-Maghreb flights are indirect, with some domestic and intraregional flights transferring through European airports. Here, a gravity equation is used to estimate the volume of traffic between Maghreb countries in relation to a wide set of factors. The results suggest that key determinants of air intra-Maghreb air traffic demand are generally in line with findings in other markets, including those involving GDP, fares, conflicts, visa openness, trade, and the quality of airline services.