The Battered Woman Syndrome. – The concept of Battered Woman Syndrome was first discussed in the case of People of the Philippines v. Marivic Genosa[1], a parricide case where the wife killed her husband by shooting him. In that case, the accused invoked Battered Woman Syndrome because of the abuses she suffered at the hands of her husband, the victim. While the Court did not agree with her that there was lawful self-defense, her penalty was mitigated and was released earlier because of mitigating circumstance. In the case, the Court extensively discussed the Battered Woman Syndrome, and this defense was later incorporated in R.A. 9262 as an exempting circumstance.
“In claiming self-defense, appellant raises the novel theory of the battered woman syndrome. While new in Philippine jurisprudence, the concept has been recognized in foreign jurisdictions as a form of self-defense or, at the least, incomplete self-defense. By appreciating evidence that a victim or defendant is afflicted with the syndrome, foreign courts convey their “understanding of the justifiably fearful state of mind of a person who has been cyclically abused and controlled over a period of time.”
A battered woman has been defined as a woman “who is repeatedly subjected to any forceful physical or psychological battery by a man in order to coerce her to do something he wants her to do without concern for her rights. Battered women include wives or women in any form of intimate relationship with men. Furthermore, in order to be classified as a battered woman, the couple must go through the battering cycle at least twice. Any woman may find herself in an abusive relationship with a man once. If it occurs during a second time, and she remains in the situation, she is defined as a battered woman.
Battered women exhibit common personality traits, such as low self-esteem, traditional beliefs about the home, the family and the female sex role; emotional dependence upon the dominant male; the tendency to accept responsibility for the batterer’s actions; and false hopes that the relationship will improve.
More graphically, the battered woman syndrome is characterized by the so-called “cycle of violence,” which has three phases: (the tension-building phase; (2) the acute battering phase; and (3) the tranquil, loving (or, at least, nonviolent) phase.
During the tension-building phase, minor battering occurs – it could be verbal or slight physical abuse or another form of hostile behavior. The woman usually tries to pacify the batterer through a show of kind, nurturing behavior; or by simply staying out of this way. What actually happens is that she allows herself to be abused in ways that, to her, are comparatively minor. All she wants is to prevent the escalation of the violence exhibited by the batterer. This wish, however, proves to be double-edged, because her “placatory” and passive behavior legitimizes his belief that he has the right to abuse her in the first place.
However, the techniques adopted by the woman in her effort to placate him are not usually successful, and the verbal and/or physical abuse worsens. Each partner sense the imminent loss of control and the growing tension and despair. Exhausted from the persistent stress, the battered woman soon withdraws emotionally. But the more she becomes emotionally unavailable, the more the batterer becomes angry, oppressive and abusive. Often, at some unpredictable point, the violence “spirals out of control” and leads to an acute battering incident.
The acute battering incident is said to be characterized by brutality, destructiveness, and sometimes, death. The battered woman deems this incident as unpredictable, yet also inevitable. During this phase, she has no control; only the batterer may put an end to the violence. Its nature can be as unpredictable as the time of its explosion, and so are his reasons for ending it. The battered woman usually realizes that she cannot reason with him, and that resistance would only exacerbate her condition.
At this stage, she has a sense of detachment from the attack and the terrible pain, although she may later clearly remember every detail. Her apparent passivity in the face of acute violence may be rationalized thus: the batterer is almost always stronger physically, and she knows from her past painful experience that it is futile to fight back. Acute bartering incidents are often very savage and out of control, such that innocent bystanders or intervenors are likely to get hurt.
The final phase of the cycle of violence begins when the acute battering incident ends. During this tranquil period, the couple experience profound relief. On the one hand, the batterer may show a tender and nurturing behavior towards his partner. He knows that he has been viciously cruel and tries to make up for it, begging for her forgiveness and promising never to beat her again. On the other hand, the battered woman also tries to convince herself that the battery will never happen again and that her partner will change for the better; and that this “good, gentle and caring man” is the real person whom she loves.
A battered woman usually believes that she is the sole anchor of the emotional stability of the batterer. Sensing his isolation and despair, she feels responsible for his well-being. The truth, though, is that the chances of his reforming or seeking professional help, are very slim, especially if she remains with him. Generally, only after she leaves him does he seek professional help as a way of getting her back. Yet, it is this phase of remorseful reconciliation that she is most tormented psychologically.
The illusion of absolute interdependency is well-entrenched in a battered woman’s psyche. In this phase, she and her batterer are indeed emotionally dependent on each other – she for his nurturant behavior, he for her forgiveness. Underneath this miserable cycle of “tension, violence and forgiveness, : each partner may believe that it is better to die than to be separated. Neither one may feel really independent, capable of functioning without the other.”
Effect of battery on a woman. – In the same case, and relying on expert witnesses from abroad and the case, the Court summarized the state of mind of a typically battered woman: “Thus, just as the battered woman believes that she is somehow responsible for the violence behavior of her partner, she also believes that he is capable of killing her, and that there is no escape. Battered women feel unsafe, suffer from pervasive anxiety and usually fail to leave the relationship. Unless a shelter is available, she stays with her husband, not only because she typically lacks a means of self-support, but also because she fears that if she leaves, she would be found and hurt more.”
Sadly, in that case, the Court did not find enough evidence that the syndrome existed in the relationship, and the accused fell short of proving all three phases of the “cycle of violence” supposedly characterizing the relationship of the accused and the victim. Even so, at that particular time, the Court ratiocinated that even the existence of the syndrome in a relationship does not in itself establish the legal right of the woman to kill her abusive partner. Evidence must still be considered in the context of self defense.
With the enactment of R.A. 9262 later that year, that issue has been settled.
Enactment of RA 9262 expanded protection for battered women. “Prior jurisprudence set a high threshold for those invoking self-defense based on battered woman syndrome. Thus, to expand protections for victims of domestic abuse, Republic Act No. 9262, also known as the Anti-Violence against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 was promulgated. Under the law, battered woman syndrome is codified and defines as, “a scientifically defined pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms found in women living in battering relationships as a result of cumulative abuse.” While traditional self-defense requires the concurrence of three elements: (i) unlawful aggression; (ii) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (iii) lack of sufficient provocation of the part of the person defending herself; Section 26 of Republic Act No. 9262 expressly provides that a victim found suffering from battered woman syndrome shall not incur criminal and civil liability, even in the absence of any of the elements required. Section 26 reads:
SECTION 26. Battered Woman Syndrome as a Defense. – Victim-survivors who are found by the courts to be suffering from battered woman syndrome do not incur any criminal and civil liability notwithstanding the absence of any of the elements for justifying circumstances of self-defense under the Revised Penal Code.
In the determination of the state of mind of the woman who was suffering from battered woman syndrome at the time of the commission of the crime, the courts shall be assisted by expert psychiatrists/psychologists.
The legislative intent is unmistakable. Congress recognized that the lived realities of battered women do not always conform to the traditional paradigm of combat contemplated in the self-defense doctrine. Domestic violence occurs through a series of physical, sexual, and psychological harm, or economic abuse that result in a pattern of psychological and behavioral symptoms. The sustained intimidation , coercion, and domination used on the woman instills a sense of fear and psychological entrapment. Consequently, Section 26 does not demand that the battered woman wait for a final attack before acting in preservation of life. To insist otherwise is to ignore the cyclical nature of domestic violence that the itself was enacted to address.”[2] (Citations omitted)
[1] G.R. No. 135981, January 15, 2004
[2] People v. XXX271087, G.R No. 271087, July 14, 2026