The Struggle for Justice for Battered Women: Still a Colossal Work in Progress, as Exemplified by Helen Naslund’s Case

This article recounts the campaign for justice for Helen Naslund, a Canadian woman who lived in rural Alberta when she killed her abusive husband Miles in 2011 as he slept. Rather than go to trial on self-defence, on the advice of counsel Helen pled guilty to manslaughter and then, consequent to a joint submission on sentencing made with the Crown, she was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2020, the longest sentence on record for such a woman in Canada. The contributors to Helen’s journey, including Helen herself, a Senator, an academic, an activist, a lawyer and a journalist, all describe the roles they played in supporting Helen’s successful appeal against sentence in 2022 and her release from prison in 2023.