The criminal justice system has only recently begun to consider violence between adult intimate partners a public matter worthy of legal concern. Advocates lobbied successfully to change the way perpetrators and victims are treated within the system. Mandatory arrest approaches direct police to detain a perpetrator when there is probable cause that a domestic assault has occurred, regardless of the victim's wishes.
Mandatory prosecution requires government attorneys to bring criminal charges against batterers.
Recent data suggest that arrest may actually increase abuse for some women. The number of jurisdictions implementing mandatory prosecution has increased, even though data on the benefits and drawbacks of the policy are scarce. Mandatory Arrest Early studies showed mandatory arrest to be the most effective policy in deterring batterers from future violence. They examined 314 cases of misdemeanor assault over six months and found mandatory arrest to be a significantly more effective deterrent than either physical separation or officer mediation. Each of the several studies in the United States that replicated Sherman and Berk produced varying results on the efficacy of mandatory arrest.