(No) Spillovers in reporting domestic abuse to police

Abstract

Spillover effects in crime are typically studied as a result of offender behaviour. This study investigates whether spillover effects can occur in the reporting of domestic abuse by victims. Domestic abuse is a particularly interesting context because of its high prevalence but low reporting rate. Extending existing spatio-temporal Hawkes process specifications, we test for the presence of two spillover channels in all domestic abuse calls in a major English city. We find no evidence to support such effects in the reporting of domestic abuse.