This week, a federal trial against Sean "Diddy" comb began in New York. Combs faces allegations of sexual trafficking and extortion, and he pleads not guilty to all charges. Combs defense attorney Marc Agnifilo is using a familiar strategy to describe the relationship between hip-hop tycoon and one of his plaintiffs, his former long-time girlfriend singer Casandra "Cassie" Ventura.

“Both sides hit it,” Agnefilo said in court. “We will be stance that there is mutual violence in the relationship.”

This concept is often referred to as “mutual violence” or “mutual abuse”, which suggests that both parties engage in abuse in cases of abuse. The trial that Johnny Depp-Amber heard also brought up the idea.

But Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, said “mutual abuse” is not a legal defense of abuse.

She said: "In the law book, you don't find a defense of mutual assistance. You'll see the defendants arguing, 'Well, I really think the victims agree because they did it to me, so I can do it to them.'

“(But) abuse someone in the world of criminal law and say, ‘They are wrong too.’

Bev Gooden, author Survival: Why we stay and how we leave an abusive relationship, Believing that the idea of ​​“mutual abuse” also goes against the definition of abuse.

“Abuse is a behavioral pattern that aims to maintain control over another person,” she said. “Abuse is about power, it is about control, manipulation, not just physical violence or aggression.

Gooden added that it is important to understand functional dynamics, which can distinguish between abuse and fight back even if they look similar.

"I find that being usually marked as mutual abuse is a more accurate traumatic response ... I always say that traumatic responses can cause harm. I think that when they see someone back or lash out at a partner who is abused or abused, that's abuse not an abuse. "

But why did Combs' defense admit that his relationship with Ventura was fundamentally violent? Levinson believes the defense attempts to reframe this “mutual violence” as a consensus part of the sexual relationship, a strategy she saw in former Dodge player Trevor Bauer.

"Trevor Bauer, back in 2021, was accused of abuse (someone) with all kinds of harmful and physically painful sexual activities. His defense was 'Well, that's how we have sex,'" she said. "In fact, the case ended up being discarded."

Kittle is not abuse, Gooden said. The insistence of enthusiastic consent among practitioners is the core of the tangle.

Levinson added: "Now (Bauer's case) is not as extreme as the alleged allegations against the combs here, but I think the defense is trying to reframe it as 'gee, and that's exactly the world of rock and roll, and these people want to be part of it, so they're not real victims."

Gooden added that the narrative could be particularly tasty for the public, who might be fans or admirers of celebrities like Sean Combs.

“It’s often hard to believe that people we are respected may abuse, and the same hand that creates art can cause horror,” she said. “It’s really hard to sit here and I’m sympathetic to the people who are working on it because I’ve been there. I think a healthier way to deal with this hurt and confusion is to accept that someone is good for you and still hurt others.”