Should domestic violence be or not a public crime?

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence has been addressed in public policies and law reforms in many countries to target its identification and provide increased support to those affected. In some countries, reporting domestic violence is mandatory, which means that anyone not only 'can' but also 'must' file a report, which is enough to progress the criminal proceedings, even against the victim's will. This article provides an overview about the importance of the clinicians' duty of care, debating whether or not domestic violence should be a public crime.

Methods: A narrative review on the subject of mandatory reporting of domestic violence, conducting a search of PubMed.

Results: Twenty studies were retrieved. Commonly victims agree with mandatory reporting. However, there are still several concerns voiced by both victims and health care workers that need to be further addressed.

Conclusion: This article addresses the importance and limitations of mandatory reporting while acknowledging the impact of these measures in both the victim and the accused.

Keywords: domestic violence; legislations; mandatory report; public crime.