Domestic violence doesn’t only affect people who have been married, have a child together or are related. But until last July, only people who fit those categories were eligible for a civil order of protection through a family court in New York state.
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Anyone else had to go through criminal court – a process that takes longer and requires the victim to press charges.
On July 21, 2008, the Family Court Act was amended to include people who are or were in an “intimate relationship,” a category that includes teens, non-heterosexual couples and people who dated, regardless of whether they lived together or whether the relationship was sexual in nature.
A civil order of protection is a court order signed by a judge to protect the petitioner from the alleged abuser.
“It’s an extremely important tool,” said Amy Barasch, executive director of the New York state Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.
Veronica C., who works for the Grace Smith House writing petitions for orders of protection at the Dutchess County Family Court, said her workload became “noticeably heavier” a few months after the law changed.
Veronica declined to give her last name, saying that for safety reasons, employees of Grace Smith House are trained not to.
Previously, her office wrote about 70 to 80 petitions each month. Rarely did that number top 100. In May, they filed 128.
“We’re doing more than a hundred a month now,” she said.
Last fall, Grace Smith House hired a part-time employee to assist Veronica with the petitions, which continue to increase, as does the number of people who have been referred to family court by police, she said.
Veronica said victims she’s worked with have expressed relief when they found out they had access family court. Going through criminal court can be a burden on domestic violence victims.
“They don’t want to have to go to court all the time, or they don’t want that person to have a (criminal) record,” she said.
Because the Family Court Act was amended to include people who are or have been in an intimate relationship, the state’s mandatory arrest law also reflects that change. The mandatory arrest law, enacted in 1994, requires police to make an arrest on a domestic violence call if they have probable cause to believe a felony or misdemeanor has occurred.
“In the penal code, where it describes what crimes trigger a mandatory arrest, it refers to family offenses as defined in a section of the Family Court Act,” Barasch said.
“Now, a boyfriend-girlfriend or any other intimate relationship is treated the same way as husband and wife,” said Lt. John Watterson of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office.
“If you go to the scene and someone’s injured … it gives police more tools to help with the situation,” he said.