While no crime is a good thing, crimes of domestic violence are especially heinous. Not only is it important that offenders are caught and tried in court, but, it is equally if not more important to take special care to protect the victims in these cases. One such protection afforded to victims is protection orders. There are, like any crime, specific criteria which an offender must meet in order for a victim or victims to seek protection against them. Additional consideration must be given on the part of the victim as to which area of the legal system they will seek help from, the civil court, criminal court or both.
The Courts Discussion In our legal system there are two distinct areas, the civil and criminal law systems. Separate courts exist in order to govern each. In cases of domestic violence both arenas may be involved as a result of the same act. For maximum protection against an offender, it may be in the best interest of victims to pursue legal action under both. In a civil action a person is simply asking to be protected against their abuser. If a person violates a civil order they may have to serve time in jail as a result. Criminal law is for cases
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Protective orders are no different. One study will show how much they work, another will say they are very ineffective at meeting their intent. Using examples from a period of several years, protective orders in the state of Colorado alone aren 't effective all of the time. Much of the time, perpetrators have prior issues with domestic violence or other criminal behaviors. Of course familiarity between the victim and perpetrator didn 't help either when a person was killed as they arrived at work. Contributing factors include women who haven 't taken the advice of coworkers or relatives such as going to a shelter. Advancements have since been made in the arena of protecting victims of domestic abuse and
One of the policies that needs to be discussed is arrest for domestic violence. This policy is regarding the pro- and mandatory arrest policies (Hoymand, et. al., 2009). This current policy is very important in families, even though there might be a few issues if kids are involved, it still would be best if the police were involved if the situation got to point of the danger of one’s life. Pro-arrest policies allow police officers to arrest when answering to call if there are indication of domestic violence such as broken glass, scrapes on a person, or knocked over furniture (Hoymand, et. al., 2009). Mandatory arrest policies take place when police officers make an arrest even though the officer did not witness the victim being assaulted by the perpetrator (Hoymand,
Mary Margaret Farren was the wife of a successful husband. Among other things, at one point J. Michael Farren served as Deputy White House Counsel under President George W. Bush. Mary’s husband didn’t only exude power in his public life, although that is certainly one thing he was known for prior to January 2010. At home, the Farren household was troubled with fear and intimidation. Mary never thought Michael would go as far as it took to physically assault her. He lived a life about ethics. At first, the abuse was verbal and emotional. “I was careful never to not to trigger it,” Mary said when discussing the “rage” that Michael had (ABC News 2015). On January 6th, 2010, the physical assault peaked. Michael attacked Mary in their bedroom,
... most popular remedy for battered women. This remedy always involves the state or state vs. someone and proves beyond a reasonable doubt. The second remedy is Civil law where the burden of proof is the highest. This involves private individuals, or an individual and some branch of government. The continuing of violence is dangerous to women especially the first 72 hours after she leaves. Statute 16-25-20 states if there is an injury a police officer must arrest but if only fear is involved police have discretion. Self-defense is another aspect of domestic violence. What if she decides, no more beatings and kills him. Has he drove her to insanity or should she control her anger and just leave after so many times of asking him to stop? What if she does control her anger and he kills her for leaving? These are questions that must be addressed in helping battered women.
According to the NCADV (the National Coalition against Domestic Violence), domestic violence (DV) is “willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.” Domestic violence is also known as intimate partner violence (IPV). All of this includes physical, sexual, and psychological violence as well as emotional abuse. Domestic violence is one that does not specifically effect one kind of person. Any person regardless of their gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, or socioeconomic status can fall victim to this. Every case
In the United States, domestic violence calls are one of the most common issues that police officers and other law enforcement personnel deal with. However, this approach places all involved in a reactionary mode rather than a preventive or proactive mode when dealing with domestic abuse. In order to both reduce the number of domestic violence occurrences and the resulting need for police intervention as well as protecting the abused; stronger prevention and early intervention programs should be implemented. Prevention programs aimed at our youth as well as correct identification of abusers to determine the appropriate intervention programs would help reduce domestic violence incidences. Although there are some existing laws and regulations for offenders, more could be done to enhance, monitor and establish better laws. If domestic violence incidents can be significantly reduced, then law enforcement resources can be freed up to focus on other critical social issues such as human trafficking and drug enforcement, which would also reduce the financial and emotional costs those issues have associated to them.
Domestic Violence has created terror in communities, where people are afraid to get involved in a domestic violence situations. This type of environment is not ideal for victims. Creating an environment of hopelessness, creates doubt, and no one to trust. When a victim feels like no one is fighting for them, they believe that there is no hope. If a victim files a report, it is hard for them to trust people, let alone the court system, because their own peers failed them. How can they trust lawyers, police officers, judges, clerks, and etc? According to the Independent Advocates Court Watch Report,
Knudsen, Dean D. and Miller, JoAnne L. Abused and Battered: Social and Legal Responses to Family Violence. Aldine De Gruyter, Inc.; New York. 1991.
Like child abuse, it affects every American by impacting those we love the most. Awareness for domestic violence victims has evolved since the beginning of our country. In earlier times, it was a private matter, and took place “behind closed doors”. They helped them past their sufferings and place them back into mainstream culture. (Karmen, 2015) Claims one movement that assisted with the process is the Feminist Movement. This widespread movement took place during the 1970’s, and represented the “beaten women”. It helped them stand up for themselves during their distraught times. Domestic tranquility ensures women their safety at home under their husbands’ protection. The Feminist’s Movement questioned domestic tranquility and urged women to stand up for themselves (Karmen, 2015). They discovered the “silent crisis” that lived inside so many women at the time. The crisis was that the men they married gave into the times of “behind closed doors” and “look the other way”. Those times would stand no more, due to the feminist’s movement and widespread awareness. Laws and legislation have changed since the rediscovery of the victims of domestic violence. One example is restraining orders. Restraining orders set up a level of protection for the women from the male offenders. Another example of legislation is The Violence Against Women Act. Promulgated in 1994 the act mandates that all states enforce protective orders issued in a
Countries such as the United Kingdom have laws in place to assist victims of domestic violence access legal aid in order to break free from abusive partners (Government, 2012). Such laws have come under criticism for making the barriers too high for most women who are victims of domestic violence (R v The Lord Chancellor& Secretary Of State For Justice, 2014).
Martin, M. E. "Mandatory Arrest for Domestic Violence: The Courts' Response." Criminal Justice Review 19.2 (1994): 212-27. Print.
Domestic violence is a behavioral trait used to establish power and control over a person; the abuser uses fear and intimidation through threats or the use of violence. Other terms for domestic violence include intimate partner violence, battering, relationship abuse, spousal abuse, or family violence. One in four women will experience some type of domestic violence in her lifetime and 4,744,000 women a year are victims to this physical violence (Erez, 2002). Out of all these physical attacks towards women only 25% are reported! When a women is physically harmed by an intimate partner they are known to think it is out of love
The legal system has been moderately effective in protecting victims of domestic violence. The law no longer sees domestic violence as a private matter and has attempted to provide protections for victims of domestic violence. The growing recognition of domestic violence is reflected in the law through recent reforms, which seek to better reflect the values and ethics of society through providing an efficient and enforceable response, however it has not yet fully reached this goal. The legal system has attempted to protect victims of domestic violence through legal mechanisms, which attempt to achieve justice, such as the development of legislation and the introduction of concepts, such as apprehension of fear and battered women syndrome in order to protect victims from domestic violence.
... policies have to be able to effectively deal with the crime. The results of this study can be used to formulate policy in the state and in other states. The study plays an important role in understanding the nature of domestic violence, and how enforcement of stricter laws against it will affect its prevalence in the community.
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that impacts every sector of our population. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner(USDOJ,2012). Domestic violence can be physical, economic, emotional, sexual, or psychological. Physical domestic violence is an attempt to impose physical injury such as grabbing, slapping, hitting, biting, etc. Physical violence can also be withholding necessary resources to sustain health such as medication, food, sleep, or forcing alcohol or other drug use. Economic abuse is an attempt to make the victim financially dependent. Such as sustaining control over financial resources including the victims earned income, forbidding employment, on the job harassment, or withholding information about family expenses. Emotional abuse can be the attempt to undermine the victims self worth. This could be belittling the victim, name calling, insults, criticism, manipulating, etc. Sexual abuse is any sexual contact without consent. For example, marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forced sex, forced prostitution. Sexual abuse can also be an attempt to undermine the victims sexuality by treating them in a derogatory manner, criticizing sexual performance, or withholding sex. Psychological abuse is the attempt to implant fear. This could involve intimidation, threats of physical harm, harassment, mind games, and stalking. Psychological abuse can also be an attempt to isolate victim from friends and family member. Abusers can go so far as withholding access to a telephone, transportation, constant check ups, forced imprisonment, and undermining personal relationships. Dome...
Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.