Police Sexual Violence: Police Brutality, #MeToo, and Masculinities

Purvis, Dara E.; Blanco, Melissa Marie

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3403676

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Exposure to police violence in the neighborhood may be particularly salient for women. While women are less likely to be stopped by police themselves, women are more likely to experience gendered violence during police encounters, including sexual harassment and assault ( 19 ). In addition, starting from a young age, women are vicariously exposed through police stops of neighbors, family members, and friends ( 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

et al. 2022

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There are substantial, unexplained racial disparities in women’s health. Some of the most pronounced involve elevated rates of preterm delivery (PTD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Black women. We hypothesized that stress associated with excessive use of force by police may contribute to these disparities. In two prospective cohorts derived from electronic health records (pregnancy cohort, N = 67,976; CVD cohort, N = 6773), we linked formal complaints of excessive police force in patients’ neighborhoods with health outcomes. Exposed Black women were 1.19 times as likely to experience PTD [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04 to 1.35] and 1.42 times as likely to develop CVD (95% CI: 1.12 to 1.79), even after adjustment for neighborhood disadvantage and homicide. The excess risks of PTD were also observed in maternal fixed-effects analyses comparing births to the same woman. These findings suggest police violence may be an unrecognized contributor to health inequity for Black women.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

et al. 2022

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“…Despite documented reports of police sexual violence in America (Purvis & Blanco, 2020), there has been minimal empirical attention given to factors that influence societal responding to such violence. We demonstrated that victim race and experiences of crime-related stress have significant implications for empathic responding toward a victim of police sexual violence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In January 2016, former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison for sexually assaulting eight women of color between December 2013 and June 2014. In reviewing police sexual violence, Purvis and Blanco (2020) state that the incidence of such violence in America is “staggering” (p. 1491). Further, Stinson et al (2014) identified 548 cases of sex-related crimes committed by on-duty police officers, including 118 cases of sexually assaulting adult and minor victims within a 3-year period.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy for a Black Woman Victim of Police Sexual Violence: The Roles of Crime-Related Stress and Stereotype Attributions

Johnson

Sattler

Hiel

et al. 2022

J Interpers Violence

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Police sexual violence has been ranked as the second most common form of misconduct among police officers. Moreover, there is evidence that Black women are at heightened risk of being victims of such police violence. A report titled Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women has brought international attention to the minimal empirical focus on such police violence toward Black women. To address this lacuna in the literature, using an incident of police sexual assault of a woman, we assessed whether victim’s race and participants’ level of crime-related stress (i.e., stress due to crime victimization) would influence empathic responding toward the victim. Prolific participants ( N = 411) first completed a measure of crime-related stress. They then read an article describing a White police officer’s sexual assault of a Black or White woman. Next, participants completed a racial stereotype-related measure (i.e., Black women’s higher sexual proclivity) and a stereotype-unrelated measure (i.e., perceived victim untrustworthiness), and reported their victim-directed empathic responding. At high stress levels, participants reported less empathy for the Black (relative to White) victim. At low stress levels, there was greater Black victim-directed empathy. The race effects on empathy were mediated by heightened attribution of Black women-related stereotypical beliefs to the Black victim at high stress levels and by diminished attribution at low stress levels. In sum, we addressed the lacuna in the literature on police sexual violence against Black women while providing evidence that stress can play a critical role in the occurrence of the oft-cited outgroup-directed empathy deficit.

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“…The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymized, coded, and ranged in length from 20 min to several hours (1 h average). Given our participants’ lived realities, our relationships with residents were important as many feared police retaliation for sharing their experiences [ 43 ]. Such relationships also allowed us to triangulate our findings where possible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It Stays with You for Life”: The Everyday Nature and Impact of Police Violence in Toronto’s Inner-City

Greene

Urbanik

Samuels-Wortley

2022

IJERPH

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In recent years, police violence has amassed notable international attention from the public, practitioners, and academics alike. This paper explores experiences and perceptions of police violence in Canada, documenting the impacts of direct and vicarious experiences of police violence on inner-city residents. The study employed semi-structured interviews with 45 community members across three Toronto inner-city neighbourhoods. Using a general interview prompt guide, participants were asked a range of questions about their experiences with and perceptions of police, and particularly, of police violence in their community. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, thematically coded, and analyzed. All participants reported direct and/or vicarious experiences of police violence, and most described experiencing long-standing, and continual fear that police contact would result in harm to them. Further, participants described a variety of serious and negative outcomes associated with experiencing and/or witnessing police violence. Police violence in Canada is a public health issue that requires an integrated public health policy approach to address the negative outcomes associated with direct and vicarious police violence exposure.

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Police Sexual Violence: Police Brutality, #MeToo, and Masculinities

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

Complaints about excessive use of police force in women’s neighborhoods and subsequent perinatal and cardiovascular health

Empathy for a Black Woman Victim of Police Sexual Violence: The Roles of Crime-Related Stress and Stereotype Attributions

“It Stays with You for Life”: The Everyday Nature and Impact of Police Violence in Toronto’s Inner-City

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