February 10th, 2012 A bill was recently passed in the Senate that requires companies with more than 50 employees to allow up to 15 days of leave for any employee who is a victim of domestic violence or lives with a family member who is a victim of domestic violence.
Employees can use the leave to obtain any DV-related [...]
February 3rd, 2012 Serial domestic abusers will no longer be able to easily get close to their former victims. Once convicted, they will now be required to wear a tracing bracelet upon release. The GPS tracking device will send a text alert to the former victim if the abuser gets within 1,000 feet. Currently, this program is only [...]
December 7th, 2011 Domestic Violence does not discriminate. The recent murder of Annamarie Rintala is an example of the devastating effects of domestic violence in the lesbian community. Her wife, Cara Rintala is being held without bail accused of her murder. The couple was together for nearly 10 years, and both worked as paramedics for local fire departments. [...]
October 26th, 2011 Reading the story of another survivor’s “long road from surviving to thriving” can help survivors at the begging of such a road find strength and faith. Reading the same story can help those who have never been victims understand that the hardest part is often not leaving but all that comes after one has left. [...]
July 8th, 2011 is a documentary film that premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival. The Oprah OWN network has acquired the rights to the film and plans to release it in limited theaters on July 1st 2011. Crime After Crime, directed by Yoav Potash, tells the story of Debbie Peagler. In the late 1970’s, at [...]
June 15th, 2011 The New York City Police Department receives about 700 domestic abuse complaints per day. According to the NYC Mayor’s Office to combat domestic violence. Approximately 38 percent of victims will be abused again within six months. The law proposed by District Attorney Vance, on June 3rd, 2011 would make domestic violence a felony on the [...]
June 1st, 2011 I previously posted on the issue of creating a DV database. This article provides some interesting information regarding how such a database could be used by law enforcement to protect families. Basically, a DV database could provide easy access to information, for example the existence of orders of protection, that would be difficult to get if [...]
March 28th, 2011 At first Lisa Burk, refused to testify against the man who has terrified her and her 11-year-old daughter because “she remembered the “good parts” of Dooley when he was sober.” Ms. Burk was fortunate that her abuser’s lawyer was able and willing to explain her options regarding testifying. She ultimately decided to testify after additional [...]