While technology is not inherently violent, people who engage in intimate partner violence often employ technology as a means of obtaining and maintaining coercive control. Various technologies equip offenders with very efficient means to commit the crimes of stalking, intimidation, and harassment, while also enabling them to pinpoint their victims’ physical locations. Although it is challenging to stay one step a … [Read more...] about Technology & Intimate Partner Violence
Family Violence
Judicial Oversight in Domestic Violence Cases
If you are a judicial officer reading this, chances are you’ve issued an order or two in your career. You did so with the belief that the parties involved would obey those court orders, right? One way to find out if someone is complying with an order is to wait for the filing of notices of violations, such as contempt proceedings or probation violations. And, if there are no filings, that means the party is complying … [Read more...] about Judicial Oversight in Domestic Violence Cases
Children Who Witness Violence
I once heard a judge compare her civil protection order docket to an emergency room—especially the ex parte cases. What an apt comparison! Judges and court staff often deal with people who have been physically, mentally, and emotionally traumatized when they consider ex parte protection orders. Violence of any kind is traumatic to human beings, and children, who lack the experience and coping skills of adults, are a … [Read more...] about Children Who Witness Violence
Specialized Domestic Violence Courts
Although there is no standard model of a “domestic violence court,” the term generally means a specialized court division where only domestic violence cases are filed or a specialized docket on which a trial court, which hears other types of cases, assigns domestic violence cases and hears them on a particular day or time. In the United States today, there are over two hundred specialized domestic violence courts. Can … [Read more...] about Specialized Domestic Violence Courts
Are Protection Orders Effective in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence?
Editor’s Note: We begin a new feature focusing on Family Violence articles that will be written by the Indiana Supreme Court Division of State Court Administration’s newest Family Law Staff Attorney, Ruth Reichard. Ruth has over twenty-seven years of combined litigation, judicial and teaching experience, as well as a passion for domestic violence issues. She served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Marion County, an … [Read more...] about Are Protection Orders Effective in Reducing Intimate Partner Violence?