Dating Violence Against Women

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Dating violence against women has been a complex issue within the criminal justice system for the at least the last fifteen years (Bialo-Padin & Peterson, 2012; O’Dell, 2007). Even though there has been progress in establishing equality for women in regards to treatment, sadly dating violence against women continues to affect roughly 17.7 percent to 35.5 percent of women starting in thier teenage years (Largio, 2007). There are a number of issues that impede justice for women such as mandatory arrest laws which may include the arrest of the victim (Buzawa, Faggiani, Hirschel & Pattavina, 2007). In addition, women face a criminal justice system that is patriarchal (O 'Dell, 2007). Also, when women deal with the criminal justice system they …show more content…

Sadly, victims sometimes do not come forward, research shows that the lesser the violence the less response from authorities which can result in either a minor charge or no charge at all. This is a case where if evidence was collected this might have gotten a stronger conviction, therefore more protection for the victim (Bialo-Padin & Peterson, 2012). In addition, women face injustices within the court system for a copious amount of reasons. First, society is blinded by popular television shows such as C.S.I. or Law and Order; they expect a certain type of case in court. These shows give false information about how these cases actually unravel. During a trial, jurors expect evidence and witnesses questioned. This contributes to injustice because the jurors are under false bias and may not convict if they do not have that one piece of solid evidence (Bialo-Padin & Peterson, 2012). In many cases there are no other parties involved expect the two in the relationship and therefore there is no witness other than the accounts of the victim and offender (O’Dell, …show more content…

Sadly a study noted that officers only take proper documentation in about 50 percent of cases, especially visible injuries. In conclusion, these agencies are predominantly male and they are not being trained in regards to handling an excessive amount of female victims. There are still numerous officers that are not ready to accept how society operates; they still abide by gender roles (O’Dell,