The Baton Rouge Advocate recently published an article titled Restraining orders useful but limited, which has important implications for victims of domestic violence.
Some highlights of the article include:
- half of the people who seek restraining orders don’t follow through to extend them beyond a very short term, or ask to have them dissolved
- eighty-five percent of the time the injunctions are effective in protecting victims of abuse
- protective orders have little deterrent value against abusers who have no fear of punishment and/or no respect for the law
- a not insignificant percentage of victims themselves violate injunctions by allowing their abusers to have access to them
- seventy-five percent of victims of domestic homicides occur when the victim leaves (or tries to end) their relationship
- protective orders aren’t just for the primary victim; they’re also for loved ones who live with them
- most states legally compel victims to testify in criminal domestic violence cases, even against a spouse