Seeking Help from the Police: Battered Women’s Decisions and Experiences

Intimate Partner Violence at the Scene: Incident Characteristics and Implications for Public Health Surveillance

“…Furthermore, information about police contacts may be useful for medical intervention: asking female emergency department patients about IPV-related calls to police has been shown to increase IPV detection by 30 percent (Dichter and Rhodes 2009). Therefore, greater collaboration between law enforcement agencies, health care providers, advocacy groups, and service agencies is essential in efforts to reduce and prevent IPV (Davies, Block, and Campbell 2007).…”

“…Intimate partner violence victims who call the police are more likely to have experienced severe physical violence (Bonomi et al 2006;Davies, Block,and Campbell 2007;Kantor, and Straus 1999), psychological abuse (Bonomi 2006), or injury (Bachman and Coker 1995;Bonomi 2006). And, the findings reported herein highlight the severity of violence experienced by women and the injury potential of police-attended IPV.…”

“…For example, police-attended IPV victims are more likely to have experienced severe abuse, injury or harm that requires medical care (Bonomi et al 2006;Davies, Block, and Campbell 2007;Kothari and Rhodes 2006) and, as such, law enforcement information is relevant to health care providers and systems.…”

Intimate Partner Violence and Safety Strategy Use: Frequency of Use and Perceived Effectiveness

“…Strategies assessed included talking to a doctor, nurse, counselor, or clergy member; calling a hotline; reaching out to an IPV program/shelter; and participating in a support group. Six studies examined legal strategies and estimates of their use ranged from 1% to 95% (Davies et al, 2007;Goodkind et al, 2004;Logan et al, 2006;O'Campo et al, 2002;Shannon et al, 2006;Wiist & McFarlane, 1998). Legal strategies examined in these studies included contacting police or contacting a lawyer.…”

“…Safety strategy use was measured using the Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index (El-Khoury et al, 2004;Goodman, Dutton, Vankos, & Weinfurt, 2005;Goodman et al, 2003), Community Agencies Assessment (Wiist & McFarlane, 1998), or by providing a list of safety strategies and asking women to indicate those they had used (Coker, Derrick, Lumpkin, Aldrich, & Oldendick, 2000;Davies, Block, & Campbell, 2007;Goodkind, Sullivan, & Bybee, 2004;Logan, Shannon, Cole, & Walker, 2006;O'Campo, McDonnell, Gielen, Burke, & Chen, 2002;Shannon, Logan, Cole, & Medley, 2006).…”