Women’s disengagement from legal proceedings for intimate partner violence in southern Spain: Variables related to legal proceedings

Abstract

This article studies the relationship between a set of variables related to the legal process and women’s disengagement from legal proceedings against their (ex)partners in Southern Spain. A total of 345 women answered a questionnaire. Results evidenced that request for a protection order (PO), granting such PO, imprisonment of the offender, and women’s perception of who decided during the process were significantly related to disengagement (medium effect size). In addition, a logistic regression model was developed to predict disengagement with two variables: granting a PO and women’s perception of who decided. Results are interpreted in terms of the necessity that the judicial system gives support, protects, and provides women with opportunities to participate in the recovery process.