English
EspañolV asks if she should "report his abuse" so he can't hurt others in the future
EDIT THIS SENTENCE AS NEEDED - THIS VICTIM JUST SAID TO “REPORT HIM” BUT DIDN’T SAY REPORT HIM TO POLICE SO i CLARIFIED HERE. IF NOT NEEDED, DELETE THIS: Are you asking if you should report the acts of abuse to the police? (If not, please let me know to whom you were thinking of reporting it to.)
When someone makes a police report, they would contact the police in the town where the crime happened. If there is a specific crime that was potentially committed, the police can investigate further. You can read the legal definition of common crimes on our website to see if the acts that were done to you fall into any of these crimes. HYPERLINK TO CRIMES PAGE.
If the police believe a crime may have been committed, they may likely interview the victim and interview the abuser to see if they think there is probable cause to arrest the abuser. If they make an arrest, then the victim would likely be interviewed by the prosecutor’s office, and possibly called upon to testify in court if the case goes to trial, etc. So, whether you make a police report really depends on what sort of involvement you want to have in this regard. IF IT’S NOT CLEAR IF SHE LEFT THE RELATIONSHIP, YOU’LL NEED TO EDIT THIS SENTENCE: Some people who have manages to leave the relationship will choose to do anything possible to avoid interaction with the person or to not do anything that will possibly trigger further abuse.
It’s understandable that the victim of abuse would be worried about the abuser hurting someone in the future. Unfortunately, unlike the sexual offender registry for people convicted of sexual crimes, there is no “registry” that someone can search to see if their potential date or partner has been accused or convicted of domestic violence. So, it’s not clear how reporting him would help keep someone else safe unless it’s for the purpose of trying to get him convicted so that if he hurts someone again, there’d be a prior conviction on his record that could lead to a harsher punishment next time? If you want to talk through this further with an advocate at a local domestic violence program, HYPERLINK they may better be able to talk through pros and cons with you so you can decide what you’d like to do.
