A Critical Examination of the Influences of Intimate Partner Violence, Help-Seeking, and Social Identity on Women’s Experiences Seeking and Obtaining Civil Protection Orders

Meredith E. Bagwell-Gray, Jill T. Messing, Alesha A. Durfee, Kathryn J. Spearman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This research describes women’s engagement with the civil legal system as a safety strategy when experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Using a critical lens, it explores how violence victimization, help-seeking, and social identities influence victim-survivors’ decisions to seek civil protection orders (POs) and whether they obtain them. Using cross-sectional survey methods, we recruited women experiencing IPV in relationships with men (N = 660) from ten emergency shelters in a metropolitan region of the southwestern United States. Violence and help-seeking predicted whether victim-survivors sought POs, whereas social identities predicted whether they received them, revealing the influence of social identities on civil justice outcomes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalWomen and Criminal Justice
DOIs
StateAccepted/In press - 2023

Keywords

  • Civil legal system
  • civil protection orders
  • criminal legal system
  • intersectionality
  • intimate partner violence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Law

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