This study critically examines Scotland’s legal responses to intimate partner femicide (IPF), with a focus on 57 homicide cases between 2008 and 2019. It highlights the misuse of the “provocation by infidelity” defense, the persistence of harmful gendered stereotypes in judicial narratives, and the mischaracterization of domestic abuse within the legal process.
 

The findings reveal that many IPF cases continue to be shaped by the “love narrative,” where male violence is excused or downplayed as a crime of passion. Sentencing decisions often omit explicit acknowledgment of coercive control or abuse histories, despite their documented presence. The piece argues that abolishing the infidelity provocation plea and explicitly linking IPF to domestic abuse/coercive control in indictments and sentencing would improve accuracy, accountability, and prevention.
 

Recommended actions include proper labeling of domestic homicides, judicial training on IPF risk factors, routine acknowledgment of abuse contexts in sentencing, and better data on homicides preceded by domestic abuse.