Gendered IPV Disclosure: Understanding Factors That Influence Women’s Decision to Report IPV Experiences to the Police

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is pervasive and has several negative consequences. However, IPV victims mostly do not disclose their victimization experiences to law enforcement agencies, and this attitude largely hinders their ability to receive needed treatment. The main purpose of the current study was to examine factors that impact IPV victims’ decisions to call the police about their victimization. Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (1992–2022), we specifically explored the influence of relationships, weapon usage, and injuries on women’s disclosure of IPV victimization. A total sample of 476 cases was analyzed using binary logistic regression. Results from our analysis showed that injuries sustained and respondents’ ethnic background predicted reporting of IPV. Also important were the place of occurrence and frequency of incidents. Specifically, victimizations that resulted in injuries that occurred within the victim’s city and happened less than 10 times were significant predictors of the likelihood of reporting to the police. In addition, women who identified as Hispanic were more likely to report their victimization to police compared to those who identified as non-Hispanic. Policy implications of these findings include programs that address the underlying conditions of non-disclosure of IPV to increase reporting among women.