Sometimes, victims of domestic violence report matters to the police out of fear for their safety. However, many domestic violence reports begin with concerned outside parties. Neighbors, family members or total strangers may reach out to local law enforcement because they fear for someone’s safety in what appears to be a domestic violence scenario.
Those people often impose their own assumptions on the situation, resulting in them relaying inaccurate information to those answering dispatch request calls. When police officers arrive, they have very limited information about the situation. They may overhear one person screaming at another and the sound of a violent altercation occurring behind closed doors.
They may notice bruising and other signs of injuries on either of the people involved in the incident. They may then make a judgment call and arrest one of the people involved. Some people end up facing domestic violence charges when what police officers witnessed was actually a case of reactive abuse.
What is reactive abuse?
People who experience extended periods of domestic violence often have to suppress their emotional reactions to avoid provoking the abuser. However, the domestic abuser may continue to engage in acts of physical violence and emotional manipulation. Eventually, the other party may explode during a domestic violence incident. They may look like an abuser when in reality, the abuse they endured caused their intense reaction. Their actions do not occur in a bubble. Instead, they are the result of protracted mistreatment and an intense emotional reaction to an unstable situation.
The narrative is critical in a domestic violence case
Those facing domestic violence charges often plead guilty because they don’t want to air their dirty laundry in public or risk the worst-case scenario after a conviction. In cases where police officers misjudge the situation, asserting that they witnessed reactive abuse can be an appropriate response. Providing context for one particular altercation can change the way that the courts view the incident. Domestic violence defendants may be able to avoid criminal convictions if they can show that they have endured mistreatment and abuse for quite some time and have become emotionally reactive as a result.
Looking at the big picture surrounding domestic violence charges with a skilled legal team can help those facing criminal accusations plan a reasonable defense strategy. Claims of reactive abuse are sometimes an appropriate response to pending domestic violence charges.