From Victim to Offender: How Nuisance Property Laws Affect Battered Women

Nuisance property laws, which fine people for excessive 911 calls, have become increasingly popular in cities of all sizes. However, research into how these laws affect battered women is still in its early stages. This research study was designed to address the question of whether nuisance property laws harm battered women and, if so, how. Using a qualitative research design, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 primarily low-income African American battered women in St. Louis metropolitan area who had come into contact with a nuisance property law because of domestic violence. Interviews addressed circumstances of contact with a nuisance law, the response of law enforcement officials, and how the law affected the participant's housing, ability to call 911, sense of safety, finances, access to health care, and family stability. Using a multi-stage qualitative analytic procedure, each transcript was coded for themes and then descriptive categories developed for each theme. The data demonstrate that nuisance property laws harm victims of domestic violence in several ways, including by hindering their access to safe and secure housing, discouraging them from calling 911, increasing their vulnerability to violence, and compounding the trauma of the intimate partner violence. This research also reveals ways in which nuisance laws reinforce gender, race, and class inequality. The findings show that nuisance property laws enhance the abuser's power over his victim, hold victims accountable for the abuse, exacerbate the class- and race-based risks many battered women already face, and obscure the real crime of domestic violence. Policy makers need to be informed of these consequences so that they can take action to reform nuisance laws.