This chapter examines five key issues concerning the definition of a ‘victim’ in homicide law. First, protection should extend to all living humans, regardless of individual characteristics, although future considerations may necessitate specialised norms for animals and AI. Secondly, grading or sentencing based on victim characteristics (age, gender, occupation) is unjustified. Thirdly, homicide law should apply only to born individuals, with cases involving foetuses injured by third parties potentially prosecuted under ‘foeticide’. Fourthly, homicide law should focus on killing ‘others’, not ‘self’. Suicide should not be criminalised, although assisting or inciting suicide may be prosecuted in certain circumstances. Fifthly, determining when a victim is ‘already dead’ and beyond homicide law’s scope should use criteria consistent with defining the beginning of life (irreversible cessation of brain stem function or circulatory and respiratory function). These points aim to clarify the scope and application of homicide law, addressing complex issues surrounding victim status, foetal rights, suicide and the definition of death in legal contexts.

This chapter examines belonging from the prism of gender and marital dislocation. Women are overwhelmingly impacted by marriage induced migration and the assumptions of safety, tenure, and rights that are typically associated with home are affected through the uncertainties of the relationship itself, as well as social disapproval of women who refuse to migrate and adapt in these typical ways. The author reflects on the implications of being homely as well as the risks associated with a dislocation that cannot easily be undone