BACKGROUND: While the reasons female victims of gender-based intimate partner violence (GIPV) withdraw from legal proceedings continue to fuel debate, little is known about the heterogeneity of these women regarding the timing of their decision and its connection to liberating themselves from the violent relationship.
METHOD: We used Analyses of Variance and Chi-squared tests to identify variables related to withdrawal from legal proceedings and variables indicating progress in the separation process related to the timing of withdrawal: in the initial or final stages of the legal proceedings. The analyses were performed in a sample of 105 women who had dropped charges. Then, we ran Binary Logistic Regression analyses to predict the risk of withdrawal during the initial stages of proceedings.
RESULTS: Women withdrawing in the initial stages showed more indicators that the ending of the relationship was still incipient. The predictive model included two variables: not expecting protection from the judicial system and not applying for a protection order.
CONCLUSIONS: Detachment from the relationship is essential in the complex decision surrounding withdrawal; professional action is needed that does not jeopardise recovery from GIPV.