Inter-Agency Cooperation and Coordination: the Characteristics of a “Good Partnership” Against Domestic Violence

International audienceIn the past, the feminist movement exposed a sexist police culture as the main cause for police apathy in the face of domestic violence. This critique led to an ongoing transformation of police organisations. This transformation is composed of two main processes. The first process is a movement to constrain police activity, force police officers to take domestic violence seriously by enacting laws and rules that aim to reduce police officers' discretion. The second process also aims at transforming police activity, not by constraining it, but by improving the skills of police officers and making them work in partnerships with other stakeholders from medical or social service professions in the best interest of the victim. These partnerships may be within the police organisations or between the police and other stakeholders — typically social workers, magistrates, social housing representatives, NGOs, city administrators, etc. This chapter focuses on this second transformation process and aims at drawing comparative lessons from case studies in eight countries to document the characteristics of a "good partnership" against domestic violence