The Impact of Mandatory Arrest in Domestic Abuse Situations: Does it Help Female Victims?

Abstract

This study examines the mandatory arrest law in domestically violent situations and its effect upon women victims' future sense of safety and confidence in the criminal justice system. Data collected from forty battered women whose husbands had been arrested revealed that women feel somewhat safer from subsequent attack as a result of mandatory arrest and that women overwhelmingly maintain a high level of confidence in the criminal justice system.