POLICE CHARGING POLICIES & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - Native ...

8. Chapter 3 - Reluctance To Report Aboriginal DomesticViolenceAre Aboriginal women reluctant to lay charges if their husbands or boyfriendsbeat them? Explain briefly.Forty-seven respondents provided valuable insight concerning the reluctance ofaboriginal women to lay charges if their spouse or boyfriend beat them. Respondentsfrom the police and Native Justice Projects stated that there were a variety of reasonspreventing aboriginal women from reporting violent actions committed against them.After analyzing the results, this question served to expose some of the weaknessesinherent in the mandatory charging policies.a) Fear of Retaliation of SpousesNative Justice ResponseMost respondents reported that aboriginal women may not follow through with chargesfor fear of retaliation and because there has never been anything done before to stopmale violence in the community. Aboriginal women are intimidated by their spouse or donot want him to go to jail. Aboriginal women also feel intimidated and at further risk oncethe charge has been laid. Aboriginal women are also concerned about what will happenif the abuser does jail time, and then returns home. The main reason for this fear is thatthe violence will get worse especially if the abuser is not incarcerated and is out on thestreet.Police ResponseIn the northern communities, aboriginal women are afraid to report spousal assaults tothe police. Reasons behind this are that they have very little support from thecommunity as a whole and that they have very little support from the community.Victims also have limited resources. Fear of reprisal from the spouse is also a mainconcern. Sometimes, there is pressure from the community or spousal threats andpressure which makes aboriginal women reluctant to call police in family violencesituations. Akwesasne reported that aboriginal women are reluctant to involve policebecause of embarrassment and possible repercussions. The woman also finds that it issocially unacceptable to have charges laid against a spouse or live-in boyfriend. Evenwhere the abuse is reported by a Third Party, police must still interview the woman andshe will be asked to testify against the accused. There may be, however, additionalcultural barriers facing aboriginal women causing them to not report assaultivebehaviour. There are many dynamics involved in these situations and non-reporting iscommon for several reasons: the victim's fear of retaliation, protection of the accused,and the belief that nothing will be done as a result of reporting the incident.Pg. 19