Kaplan discusses the emergence of Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) as a legal and clinical concept. BWS describes a pattern of psychological symptoms observed in women who have suffered persistent intimate-partner violence and has been used to support self-defence and provocation defences in court. The article notes that BWS is not recognised in DSM-5, that it has been criticised for pathologising survivors and that it is often considered under the broader umbrella of post-traumatic stress disorder【136041046195494†L145-L167】.
