Since the 1970s, the state response to intimate partner violence (IPV) has increasingly become one of criminalization—particularly police intervention. Little is known, however, about marginalized women’s experiences with the police within a context of intimate partner violence in Canada. Drawing on interviews with 90 battered immigrant women, this study examines which women contact the police, why some do not, and what characterizes their experiences when the police are involved in an IPV incident. This study demonstrates that while the women who called the police were demographically similar to those who did not call, the women who called reported much greater levels of physical abuse. Findings indicate that general fear of the police and fear of police being racist or culturally insensitive continue to be important reasons why women do not call the police. Notably, the majority of women who had contact with the police reported the encounter as positive.

自 1970 年代以来，国家对亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 的反应越来越成为一种刑事定罪，尤其是警察干预。然而，在加拿大发生亲密伴侣暴力的情况下，边缘化妇女与警察的经历却鲜为人知。本研究通过对 90 名受虐移民妇女的采访，调查了哪些妇女会联系警察，为什么有些不会，以及当警察卷入 IPV 事件时，她们的经历有何特点。这项研究表明，虽然报警的女性在人口统计上与不报警的女性相似，但报警的女性报告的身体虐待程度要高得多。调查结果表明，对警察的普遍恐惧以及对警察种族主义或文化不敏感的恐惧仍然是女性不报警的重要原因。值得注意的是，大多数与警方有过接触的女性都报告说这次遭遇是积极的。