Law Enforcement Versus Battered Women

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, law enforcement agencies have made great strides in improving their response to domestic violence. However, attempts to reform the 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban Act (P.L. 104-208, section 658, 1997) pitted law enforcement against the battered women’s movement. Contra predictions of system equilibrium, in this competition—between the victims of the new law (law enforcement officers) and the victims whom the new law intended to protect (battered women)—decision makers chose battered women over law enforcement officers. This article examines why this conflict developed, identifies the strategies that won in this conflict, and considers the impact of this conflict on domestic violence.