reporting abuse in Indiana
Reporting abuse cases is a role that is mandated for the general public. Examples of abuse occur daily, and some channels are set for people who want to report such cases to the relevant authorities to take action. The reporting of the abuse in the state of Indiana is based on the kind of violence being published. The process for reporting the abuse is logging in a complaint with the nearest law enforcers. From the complaint, the law enforcers determine the level of harm and damage caused by the violence. They offer advice to the reporter, and they decide on the course of action (Bernabe, 2016). The abuses range in severity, and the steps taken will be determined by the severity of the violence on the individual the violence is being meted upon. Many organizations are anti-abuse, and they offer a role to individuals suffering from abuse. They also lobby for people who experience the violence being done to other people and offer them a platform through which they can report the violation.
The state of Indiana is very clear on the way cases of abuse are handled. The witness or the victim of the violence is expected to visit a branch of the law enforcement agency that is near them and report it as a crime. The law enforcement agency is expected to take action to protect the individual and give them advice on the way to handle the abuse. For the law enforcement officers, they are supposed to ensure the safety of the victim and that the person abusing them is apprehended to avoid more damage and abuse when they realize they have been reported (Bernabe, 2016). Once a case has been logged, the officers are expected to conduct their investigation to get to the bottom of the issue and get more evidence on the case. This will form a basis for the prosecution they will do on the abuser. The investigation period requires the reporter of the abuse to be in safety and the abuser to be apprehended to avoid tampering with evidence for the case.
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In some severe cases, the reporters are placed in the protective custody of the area law enforcers who protect them from being harmed and threatened by the abusers against making their cases with the law enforcers. In such cases, the law enforcement agency is supposed to offer the victims or the reporter a safe place to stay out of reach of the abuser or their collaborators. This will help in avoiding them being coerced into going against the original version of the occurrences and giving false evidence on the case due to being terrorized by the abusers (Steen & Duran, 2014). The process of reporting for abuse in the state is clear and straightforward to follow as a victim of abuse or a witness of the same. It offers refuge and safety to the reporters and a channel where they can report the violence away from having to fear about the effects of the report to the police.
In other states, some rules require to be followed in the process of reporting abuse. The reporter of the violence is supposed to have evidence of the abuse. After reporting, they accompany the law enforcers to the location of the abuse and help in identifying the victim and the abuser. This leads to many people who come across the cases of abuse to cower to report them as they may become the new targets of the abuses when they help in identifying them, making them living in terror (Knopf, 2015). The provision of anonymous reporting in the state of Indiana makes it simple for the persons reporting the cases to make their statement without the fear of their identity being compromised. The safety of the reporters of abuse needs to be considered and cared for in the other states as it will lead to more reporting.
The reporters of abuse in these states do not get protective custody except in matters where their lives are deemed to be in danger. The lack of initiatives that will place the reporters in protection or the prompt apprehending of the abuser awaiting further investigations makes the cases reported in other states be way less than those in Indiana state (Steen & Duran, 2014). This has made abuse in Indiana to be more prosecuted and reported by both the people receiving abuse and also people who witness it being done to others. The secure and straightforward process of abuse reporting and the swift reaction and faster processing of abuse cases to avoid escalation has helped in reducing the instances of abuse than in the other states.
References
Bernabe, A. (2016). Through the Looking Glass in Indiana: Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and the Duty of Confidentiality. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2770884
Knopf, A. (2015). Corrections TC to close in Indiana due to budget cuts. Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, 27(3), 6–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/adaw.30047
Steen, J. A., & Duran, L. (2014). The entryway into the child protection system: The impacts of child maltreatment reporting policies and reporting system structures. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(5), 868–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.11.009
