Detective Decision-Making in Cases of Domestic Partner Sexual Violence

• In Event: Investigating Sexual Predators and Domestic Partner Violence

Abstract

Domestic partner sexual assault is the most under reported form of sexual assault, despite estimates that nearly one in ten women will be sexually assaulted by an intimate partner in their lifetimes. At the same time, those victims who do report may be faced with varying responses from police because of their relationship to the accused offender. This paper will examine the roots of these disparate decisions of police. Data is taken from a statewide survey of sexual assault investigators, as well as qualitative semi-structured follow-up interviews, to understand the decision-making process of sexual assault investigators handling domestic partner sexual assault cases.

Author

• Steven Michael Taylor, University of Illinois at Chicago