The mother's failure to get her daughter away from her abusive partner, her failure to provide a safe environment for the girl to grow up in and her failure to seek medical help for the girl during the four years she was beaten and tortured had been a "substantial cause" of her death.
The judge said it was clear the mother had suffered from "battered wife syndrome" but her lack of action to save her daughter was "bewildering".
While the mother had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression during the time her partner was regularly beating her and her daughter, a message had to be given that her conduct could not be tolerated, Justice Hamill said when sentencing her to four years' jail with an 18-month non-parole period.
He said the mother had felt increasingly "powerless, hopeless and helpless" during the years she was with her abusive partner who treated her like a slave and had sex with her whenever he wanted because she was so terrified.
The woman's partner had also forced her to have an abortion and given her HIV. Despite this, her "gross and sustained neglect" of her daughter "had contributed to or caused the death of an innocent child".
The girl, whose beatings included being suspended from a beam by her hands and whipped, was found dead in September 2015.
She was buried on what would have been her 13th birthday.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been due to stand trial last week for manslaughter before deciding to plead guilty.
Her partner, 33, was jailed for a minimum 28 years after pleading guilty to murdering his stepdaughter.
The couple met in 2007 and the mother was abused from 2011.
The stepfather also began to assault the woman's two daughters in late 2011 and the violence escalated against the older girl when the family moved to a new home in 2014.
The mother would give the girls painkillers and apply antiseptic cream to the wounds.
They were never taken to a hospital and regularly kept out of school to allow their injuries to heal.
Two days before the older girl was found dead by her mother she had staggered into the kitchen after being brutally beaten by her stepfather.
The mother saw how the girl was dazed and struggling to walk and whispered to her: "Are you OK?". The girl replied, "No mum."
The mother warned her partner he was going to kill the girl before he took his stepdaughter back to her bedroom, tied her up again and beat her again.
If you're in danger NOW:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you
• Run outside and head for where there are other people
• Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you
• Take the children with you
• Don't stop to get anything else
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisisline operates 24/7 - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
• Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
• It's Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz
• Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and their children. Crisisline 24/7 0800 742 584
• Ministry of Justice: www.justice.govt.nz/family-justice/domestic-violence
• National Network of Stopping Violence: www.nnsvs.org.nz
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women, focusing this year on sexual violence and the issue of consent. www.whiteribbon.org.nz
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