Citation

Spooner M. J. Fam. Violence 2009; 24(6): 377-387.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10896-009-9238-3

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The English-speaking Caribbean state of Barbados enacted protection orders legislation in 1992. The goal was to protect household members from domestic abuse inflicted by those with whom they live. To understand the impact of this policy, the study utilized a survival analysis model to test the hypothesis that eligibility for protection orders on Barbados contributed to a significantly lower hazard of repeat abuse for women, compared to women on St. Kitts where protection orders were not available. Data were drawn from police reports that document incidents of domestic abuse reported on Barbados and St. Kitts where high rates of domestic abuse persist. The study found only a negligible difference between the hazard of repeat abuse of women on St. Kitts and women on Barbados.