Relationship Characteristics and Protective Orders Among a Diverse Sample of Women

This study examines descriptive information for rural White (n = 371), urban White (n = 254), and urban African American (n = 103) women with protective orders on relationship characteristics, victimization experiences, protective order stipulations and violations, and self-reported effectiveness of the orders. Results indicate that women, regardless of group, reported high rates of physical and psychological violence. Although the majority of the women reported the protective order was effective, almost one in four women reported their partner had violated the order even though the order had only been in effect an average of five weeks. The rural White women reported longer involvement in the violent relationship, worse economic circumstances, more victimization, more protective order stipulations, and feeling less safe compared to the urban groups. The urban White and the urban African American women in this sample were very similar with regard to self-reported relationship and socioeconomic characteristics as well as on perceptions of protective order effectiveness and satisfaction.