Areas of Expertise

• Domestic violence
• Intimate partner violence
• Mandatory arrest
• Protection orders

Key Findings

• Although more men are being arrested as a result of these policies, increases in the percentage of women arrested for IPV has far outpaced those for men. MORE
• Mandatory and proarrest policies have direct impacts on arrest decisions in ambiguous cases of IPV. These impacts are gendered and have differential impacts for men and women. MORE
• Men’s descriptions of the violence they had experienced focused on their power and control over their intimate partner. MORE
• Men described their active resistance to the abuse but were careful to note that their actions were not “abusive” and that they were not the “abusers.” MORE
• Previous contact with police and medical professionals are the strongest predictors of having obtained a protection order. MORE
• Education level, income, age, race, and having children in the shelter are significant predictors of having obtained a protection order. MORE
• Older protection order filers did not report any sexually-based IPV. MORE
• Older protection order filers report more emotional abuse than physical abuse. MORE
• There were significant gender differences with cross-filings compared to single filings. MORE
• First-filings are more likely to be granted (93%) than cross-filings are (78%).  MORE

Biography

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Alesha Durfee, Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University, is an expert in social policy, domestic violence, mandatory arrest policies and civil protection.

Durfee consulted with the National Science Foundation, Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Institute of Justice. She volunteered as a domestic violence victim advocate for law enforcement and criminal justice agencies and continues her community service as a board member of the Purple Ribbon Council, a grassroots organization which works to prevent domestic violence through education and outreach. She is also a member of the American Society of Criminology Policy Committee.

She has been published in numerous academic journals including Gender & Society, Journal of Marriage and Family and Violence Against Women.

Durfee received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology; Graduate Certificate in Women Studies from the University of Washington and B.A. in Sociology from Seattle Pacific University.