Combating Domestic Violence: One Size Doesn’t Fit All : NPR
So I think you have to look at multiple factors — if there are lethality factors present, if there have been weapons in the home, if the offender has a criminal record. We really have to have an individual approach to the cases instead of a one-size-fits-all approach as to how we’re handling them. That’s what I think is really critical and what I wanted to get across in the book. That you can’t just look at — we have a national policy that focuses heavily on criminalization of domestic violence, but the majority of women don’t want to go forward with criminal charges, so we have to start acknowledging that and say, what can we do if our goals are about accountability and safety — how do we hold offenders accountable and, more importantly, how do we keep women safe? Just prosecuting a case doesn’t necessarily translate that we’re going to be keeping women safer.
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