The unintended consequence of mandatory charging for victims in domestic violence calls

Police with mandatory charge policies can mean domestic abuse victims who fight back in self defence could also end up arrested, either on their own or with their abuser. Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director with Battered Women’s Support Services and a thirty year veteran in the field who has been working closely with police since the 1990s, outlines the unintended consequences of these policies, especially for Black and Indigenous women.