Barriers to Police Reporting among Pregnant Ethnoracial Minority Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

ABSTRACT Femicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women in the United States and the risk of pregnancy-associated intimate partner femicide is significantly higher among ethnoracial minority women. In this exploratory study we examined ethnoracial differences in the rates and reasons against calling police following nonfatal intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in a nationally representative sample of pregnant and nonpregnant female survivors. Among IPV survivors, 1 in 18 (5.6%, n = 106) were pregnant at the time of their abuse. Although the nature of IPV experienced was generally unrelated to victims’ ethnoracial background or pregnancy status, Black/non-Hispanic women differed in that their victimization during pregnancy was associated with significantly increased feelings of being unsafe and endorsement of the belief that the IPV was a private or personal matter, and increased fear of reprisal by the perpetrator or others. There was a significant interaction between pregnancy status and ethnoracial background on reporting IPV to police, with the probability of police reporting increasing non-significantly during pregnancy for White/non-Hispanic women and decreasing non-significantly for Black/non-Hispanic women. These findings highlight barriers to police reporting of IPV among pregnant Black/non-Hispanic survivors and suggest avenues for future research aimed at decreasing racial disparities in pregnancy-associated femicide.