Why Victims of Intimate Partner Violence Withdraw Protection Orders

• NCJ Number: 223276
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 23 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 369-375
• Author(s): James C. Roberts; Loreen Wolfer; Marie Mele
• Date Published: July 2008
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Drawing on the results of a survey of 55 women who were in the process of withdrawing a protection order against a male intimate partner, this study examined their reasons for failing to follow through with the protection order process, regardless of whether or not they returned to their abusive partners.

Abstract

The most common individual reasons for obtaining Protection from Abuse (PFA) were physical abuse and a threat of serious bodily injury made to the plaintiff by the defendant. Two women reported false imprisonment or restraint as the reason they obtained a PFA. Ten women reported other reasons, including erratic, unpredictable behavior by the defendant; a verbal argument between her and the defendant; pressure from her family; harassment; and wanting to get help for the defendant. The most common individual reasons women reported for withdrawing a PFA were that the plaintiff was no longer afraid of the defendant (35 percent); the defendant was attending counseling or some type of treatment program (29 percent); the defendant promised to change (26 percent); the defendant was missed by his children (15 percent); and the plaintiff needed the defendant for financial reasons (13 percent). Sixteen women reported withdrawing a PFA for other reasons, including getting married, the desire to resolve the situation without a court order, having a child in common with the defendant, and the desire to "start over again" with the defendant. Overwhelmingly, the women in this sample did not feel that the provision of financial resources would have altered their decision to withdraw the PFA. The study was conducted in Blair County, PA. Respondents were surveyed on their reasons for obtaining a PFA and their reasons for withdrawing a PFA. The surveys also included questions on services that may have prevented respondents from failing to complete the PFA process. 1 table and 22 references