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

Please join us for a research discussion with Betty Jo Barrett as she presents research (in collaboration with Melissa St. Pierre and Nadine Vaillancourt) “Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence in Canda: Do Victim Characteristics Matter?”

Their study examined the role of sociodemographic factors and violence characteristics in influencing women’s reporting behaviours and types of police intervention received in response to intimate partner violence in Canada. In a nationally representative sample, the 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 intimate partner violence. Implications for policy development will be examined.

Betty Jo Barrett is a professor in Social Work and Women’s Studies at the University of Windsor

Melissa St. Pierre is a doctoral student in Psychology at the University of Windsor

Nadine Vaillancourt has graduated from the Masters program in Social Work at the University of Windsor.

This research has been published at:

Barrett, B.J., St. Pierre, M., & Vallaincourt, N. (2011). Police response to intimate partner violence in Canada: Do victim characteristics matter? Women and Criminal Justice, 21(1), 38-62.

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