Domestic Violence: The Racial Divide In Law Enforcement

Abstract

Domestic abuse is “the willful use of an intimidating action [physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern] to exert power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (“What Is Domestic Violence?”, 2016). For African American women in the United States, “some studies have found that negative racial and sexist stereotypes portray African American women as aggressors rather than as victims due to their perceived rough, aggressive, and outspoken characteristics. Because of these persistent stereotypes of African American survivors, police can mistake the victim as the aggressor, thus reducing the amount of legal action taken to aid them. The past and present domestic violence responses have little positive economic or social effects on African American survivors. This thesis argues for educational changes to improve the legal response from law enforcement agencies for African American survivors of domestic violence. Realistic solutions such as, changing the stereotypical image of African American survivors, having law enforcement agencies enforce laws in domestic violence cases, and incorporating mandatory implicit bias and cross cultural communication trainings in a variety of educational areas can help resolve the low amount of law enforcement being used for African American domestic violence victims, unconscious racism in courtrooms, and ineffective mandatory arrest policies.