The Victims of Court-ordered Batterers

There is relatively little research describing the victims of court-ordered batterers, compared to the extensive descriptions of the batterers themselves. The partners of men ordered to batterer programs in four cities were interviewed about their backgrounds, victimization, helpseeking, and perceptions of the batterers (N = 482). These battered women tend to be from lower economic status and educational levels. A substantial portion have also suffered severe assaults and injury. More than half of these women have previously contacted the criminal justice system in response to abuse, but only about a quarter have received any counseling for domestic violence, and less than 10% have previously visited a battered women's shelter. The women's perceptions of their batterers are overly optimistic, despite the severe abuse and information from batterer programs. The victims of court-ordered batterers appear to be different at least in terms of their helpseeking than battered women in shelters and may therefore warrant special program and research attention.