Some of the key issues include the concept of learned helplessness, which is presumed to reinforce stereotypes about women's passivity and irrationality; the "medicalizing" of women's experiences; the use of expert witnesses; and the failure of BWS to be successful in all court appearances or to apply to all women who have lived in a battering situation. The author argues that most of these perceptions are based on a misunderstanding of the cycle of violence, learned helplessness, and BWS and that BWS does not portray women as sick but rather as perpetrating a justifiable act of homicide. She concludes that Australian defendants should have the opportunity to use BWS as means of exoneration and to broaden narrow interpretations of self-defense. 10 footnotes