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Article: In Their Own Words: Battered Women's Assessment of the Criminal Processing System's Responses
- Article from:
- Violence and Victims
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Springer Publishing Company 1998. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The questions most frequently posed about the behavior of battered women are "Why do they stay?" and "Why don't they cooperate with the people trying to help them?" These questions are asked not only by the public at large, but also by criminal processing1 agents (e.g., police officers, prosecutors, and judges), and even by battered women's advocates.
In response to these questions, it is important to acknowledge that many battered women do leave, some at the beginning and others in the later stages of abusive relationships. But a more fruitful approach for understanding the dynamics of staying, leaving and cooperating is to ask "What happens when battered women try to leave?" and "Why are ...