In this article, the authors, Gartner and Macmillan (1995), seek to determine whether or not the relationship a victim has with their abuser affects the legal system's awareness of violence against women victims. Their analysis draws on statistics found in the Canadian Violence Against Women Survey (VAWS). Activists and researchers have argued that women are less likely to inform authorities of their victimization because they were likely victimized by someone they know. There is therefore a lack of awareness among the authorities as well as misrepresentations and underestimates in official information. Through the use of a conceptual perspective, the authors conclude that because intimacy, interaction, and integration are rare among strangers, use of the criminal justice system is more common among victims of foreign offenders. Donald Black's theory of intimate victimization is less well known because victims often use family and friends to resolve their differences due to their shared moral sensibilities. Many victims believe that the crime is not serious enough to be punished by law. His theory also suggests that people believe that legal action is often unnecessary and costly and that legal action often results in the breakdown of close ties, further revenge, and private matters becoming public when they involve victimization of intimate offenders. The feminist framework coincides with the theories of Donald Black. They also suggest that women may not inform authorities because they fear not being taken seriously, being blamed for the act of violence, and/or not being protected from further abuse by of their attacker. These theories share the common assumption that... middle of article ...... I do not believe the authors were biased in writing this article. In my personal opinion, I disagree that the review was crude and not definitive. a conclusion could be drawn. I think much of the evidence provided in the article suggests that victims' legal awareness of violence is affected by the relationship the victim has with the abuser. I also found the authors' formulas for calculating their statistics a bit confusing. I also felt that some examples and explanations were lengthy and could have been summarized more. There were things in this article that I liked and didn't like. However, I found this article to be an interesting research investigation and analysis. Many of the results were consistent with my ideas about why women do not report their victimization. I learned a lot not only from this article, but also from having to do an article review..