Mandatory Reporting of Domestic Violence: What Do Abuse Survivors Think and What Variables Influence Those Opinions?

Abstract

For decades, states have passed legislation to mandate reporting of criminal conduct and the abuse of vulnerable persons. Four types of mandatory reporting laws have been enacted, including laws that require reports of injuries associated with crime or due to use of certain weapons, abuse of children, abuse of vulnerable adults, and reporting of domestic violence. While studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of mandatory reporting laws in domestic violence cases, methodological weaknesses in this body of literature make it difficult to make broad statements about whether mandatory reporting laws advance women's protection or actually place them at additional risk. This study's sample is based on 388 surveys administered in-person to women who had sought services from one of Kentucky's 15 regional domestic violence shelters. In addition to querying women regarding their own experience with mandatory reporting laws, the survey explored the factors that influenced women's views. The study advances research into women's decisions to access shelters, medical, or mental health services and how they are influenced by advance knowledge that their case would be reported if they disclosed abuse. A new and troubling finding was that almost two in five women reported they would have been less likely to contact a domestic violence shelter if they knew in advance that a mandatory report would be made. Future research on mandatory reporting is needed with an eye toward changing state policies and laws to ensure that women feel free to seek the type of assistance they need for themselves and their children.

The Impact of Mandatory Reporting Laws on Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: Intersectionality, Help-Seeking and the Need for Change

“…Mandatory Reporting (MR) is a set of U.S. federal and state laws that require specific individuals to report actual or suspected abuse to a legal or governmental agency (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). These laws address multiple types of abuse and harms, including: 1) crime-related injuries deriving from use of a weapon, 2) child abuse, neglect or exploitation, 3) elder abuse, neglect or exploitation, and 4) domestic violence or sexual assault (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). The intentions of MR laws are to protect vulnerable populations who may otherwise be unable to protect themselves and to respond to violence that often occurs in the private sphere (Jordan and Pritchard 2018).…”

“…These laws address multiple types of abuse and harms, including: 1) crime-related injuries deriving from use of a weapon, 2) child abuse, neglect or exploitation, 3) elder abuse, neglect or exploitation, and 4) domestic violence or sexual assault (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). The intentions of MR laws are to protect vulnerable populations who may otherwise be unable to protect themselves and to respond to violence that often occurs in the private sphere (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). MR laws vary state to state as to which of the aforementioned harms are reportable and who must report them.…”

“…Second, some states include domestic violence advocates as mandatory reporters (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2016a), which can lead survivor-parents to feel at risk of being reported and under constant surveillance while at a shelter . Third, survivors who are abused with the use of weapons and seek medical help may have their injuries reported based on MR laws for crime-related injuries (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). Fourth, most U.S. states have expansive MR laws related to child abuse or neglect that include child exposure to domestic violence (CEDV) as a form of harm to children (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2016b).…”

“…Research on the intersection of MR and IPV highlights negative consequences these laws can have for IPV survivors' help-seeking from formal sources of support. Survivors, for example, may not seek the medical care they need or withhold medically-relevant information to avoid triggering a report against themselves or their abuser (Durborow et al 2013;Jordan and Pritchard 2018). In addition, some survivors delay or avoid seeking help for IPV from formal services, even IPVspecific services, because they fear that disclosing their experience of IPV will lead to court involvement and child removal (DeVoe and Smith 2003).…”

“…The high rates of IPV emphasize the need for all survivors to be able to access the support they need. Evidence suggests, however, that mandatory reporting (MR) laws can affect the helpseeking strategies of survivors (Jordan and Pritchard 2018). The current study takes an intersectional approach to examine how MR affects the help-seeking behaviors of and outcomes for survivors.…”