Police officers attitude toword domestic violence: is it changing?

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lyčių stereotipai; Policijos pareigūnai; Smurtas prieš moteris; Smurtas šeimoje; Domestic violence; Gender stereotypes; Police officers; Violence against women.

EN9 years after the adoption of the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, its implementation has been constantly improved, Nevertheless, subjective obstacles to the effective prevention of domestic violence remain. This paper examines the peculiarities of the attitude of Lithuanian police officers towards domestic violence against women and their activities in domestic violence situation. The paper aims to, to identify and to compare the attitude of officers and students toward various aspects of domestic violence; to analyse the dynamics of such attitudes in nine year since 2011 and to compare the results in terms of gender and work position. In the research 390 subjects, including 146 students of Lithuania Police School, 244 police officers participated. Results show that legal regulation is well advanced compared with law situation in 2011. The rights of victims of domestic violence are clarified and more widely regulated in law, police officers are more specialized in preventing domestic violence, and the rights of victims are better implemented and protected in practice. Observing the attitudes of police officers towards the domestic violence during the years, it can be stated that there have been positive changes in attitudes and ability to help victims of violence, but at the same time police officers’ notes that working with domestic violence frustrates them with the recurrence of domestic violence and there is a lack of support from managers and the wider system (courts, prosecutors, communities) for their initial intervention. [From the publication]

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