Factors that motivated and helped women to report intimate partner violence to the police: A retrospective study in the Department of Forensic Medicine of Paris, France

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) mainly affects women and occurs in all socio-economic, religious, and cultural groups. Only a small percentage of such violence is reported to the police. The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that motivated and helped women to report IPV to the police. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 100 adult women, examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, Paris, France, following a police report for IPV. Results: The main factors that motivated women to report IPV to the police were a desire to protect themselves from the perpetrator (95%) and a recent increased awareness of the violence (95%). A higher severity level (96%) or even a situation perceived as life-threatening (89%) during the most recent incident prompted women with a history of repeated physical violence to make a first police report. All women identified the protection of their children as a motivating factor in their decision to file a complaint. Finally, the factors that helped women were mostly advice from the police or from close relatives (55 and 53% respectively). Conclusion: This study identified several factors that motivated and helped women in their decision to report IPV. These factors did not seem to depend on the socio-professional category or the age of the victims. These results could be integrated into the care of IPV victims who have not yet filed a complaint.