Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence in Canada: Do Victim Characteristics Matter?

• NCJ Number: 233748
• Journal: Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: January-March 2011 Pages: 38-62
• Author(s): Betty Jo Barrett; Melissa St. Pierre; Nadine Vaillancourt
• Date Published: January 2011
• Length: 25 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study provides information on the interactions of female victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) with the police, and investigates whether the sociodemographic characteristics of victims influenced women's reporting behavior and the types of police interventions received in response to IPV.

Abstract

This study examines the role of sociodemographic factors and violence characteristics in influencing women's reporting behaviors and types of police intervention received in response to intimate partner violence (IPV) in Canada. A subset of female respondents to Canada's 1999 General Social Survey who experienced physical or sexual IPV by a male perpetrator and who had contact with the police as a result of the violence was used for this analysis (n = 383). Findings suggest significant racial, economic, and social variations in women's motivation for self-reporting violence to the police as well as in the types of law enforcement interventions administered by police in response to reports of IPV. Implications for policy development are examined. (Published Abstract) Tables and references