ABSTRACT
The shift to criminalise intimate partner violence evolved rapidly in North America beginning in the 1980s. Mandatory or presumptive charging and arrest policies aim to reduce police discretion, empower and protect women, and deter violent men. Yet these policies are unevenly applied and critics raise concerns about strengthening the power of an oppressive patriarchal criminal justice system over women’s decisions. This chapter presents the results of a study investigating the views of abused women and police concerning the benefits and negative consequences of mandatory charging in Canada’s largest province. While police intervention provided safety for some women, others were subjected to retaliatory violence from which the justice system failed to protect them. One-quarter of the women cited mandatory charging as a deterrent to calling police in the future. Policy built with direct input from the women affected, which considers their aims and the complexity of their lives and decisions, must become the rule if the justice system is to live up to its promise of providing safety and security to women abused by intimate partners.
