Women Filing Assault Charges on an Intimate Partner

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Abstract
To describe the criminal justice outcomes and violence experienced after women seek to file assault charges against an intimate partner, 90 women were interviewed and followed for six months. Threats of violence, physical assault, stalking, and danger were measured by interview questionnaires at the time of filing charges and at 3 and 6 months later. Among the 90 women, 48% had insufficient evidence for charges; of the 52% making charges, 11% dropped charges, 37% of the perpetrators were arrested, and 4% remained fugitives. With the exception of danger at 3 months for one group of women, levels of violence did not differ by charges accepted or perpetrator arrested at 3 and 6 months. The act of women attempting to file assault charges, whether the charges were accepted or the perpetrator arrested, resulted in equally lower levels of future violence.

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