One statement at a time: how memory research can facilitate prosecution of domestic and family violence

Domestic and family violence is a prolific social issue in Australia, and takes the life of one woman each week. The current paper explores the idea that memory research can provide a theoretical and practical base when developing avenues to help those at risk. An overview of recent research on memory for repeated stressful events (such as incidents of domestic violence) indicates that while victims of multiple incidents may not provide as accurate and detailed accounts as victims of a single incident, the former are still able to remember the general experiences. Unfortunately, forgetting details and/or providing inconsistent statements can cause issues regarding how people perceive the truthfulness of the testimonies. This is particularly concerning because there is still a widely spread misconception that women are willing to lie about domestic violence incidents. Unfortunately, research to date suggests that there are no fail proof techniques to distinguish between truthful and deceptive accounts of repeated events. However, we may be able to increase the accuracy of accounts by encouraging victims to write contemporaneous notes shortly after each incident. Immediate recall has shown to increase accuracy of memory reports for repeated events. To improve quality of these notes, iWitnessed, a mobile phone application that uses guided recall with multimedia options, can be used. By increasing the accuracy and consequently credibility of testimonies of victims of repeated crimes, memory research can facilitate prosecution of domestic violence.