October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, with 2020 being especially poignant due to domestic violence being named a sort of shadow pandemic to COVID-19, with global cases thought to be seeing increases of around 20% during times of quarantine-related lockdown. Part of increasing awareness of domestic violence is developing a better understanding of legal options for all parties involved. Organizations such as Federally Employed Women have affiliations that provide service in these areas, such as Tully Rinckey.
Victims
From a victim’s perspective, your primary concern is your personal safety and the safety of those you love. Focusing on overall, long-term safety means that though immediate action to achieve short-term safety may have been to contact authorities, longer-term steps may be needed such as pursuing protection and restraining orders and cooperating with criminal prosecution of the perpetrator. Contacting an expert such as Tully Rinckey law can give you both an educator and advocate with regard to your best legal options.
Accused
An accusation of domestic violence is a serious allegation, so a primary concern for an accused party is to obey the orders of the court, including initial no-contact orders. Regardless of your view on the veracity of the allegations, violation of initial no-contact orders can result in jail time and will most likely make fighting the original allegations more difficult. Again, contacting an attorney with expertise in domestic violence defense will help you understand the nature of the upcoming court proceedings and the legal options available to you.
Honoring Domestic Violence Awareness Month with the promotion of education about the nature of domestic violence and the legal options available to parties involved in an allegation can help shine a light on the overall situation. Such a focus can only help ensure that those involved domestic violence are able to pursue assistance when necessary.