VAWnet News Blog

Closing what many regard as a gaping loophole in Ohio's domestic-violence laws has become a top priority for state legislators. Currently, only Ohio and Georgia do not offer specific legal options for victims of dating violence, such as civil-protection orders. A protection order from a judge can legally prevent contact between a victim and perpetrator, including ordering that person to move out of a home that a couple shares. It also can grant child custody and require the offender to relinquish any firearms. But currently, such orders are limited to family members.

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- It is an initiative that has received national recognition and now a filmmaking group is looking to put it on the big screen. The documentary is called "High Point 10-79," which focuses in on the city's effort to combat domestic violence. 10-79 being a code for a domestic violence call. However, for Tom Parr, he didn't expect that a chance phone call would be the inspiration behind this documentary.

I resisted therapy until I was well into full-fledged adulthood, at which point I had earned my masters degree in social work and felt qualified enough to engage others in the counseling and coaching process. What I didn’t know then was how powerful self-discovery can be to personal empowerment (the process of gaining control over one’s own life), and to the journey of healing and resilience.

What Would You Do? campaign, which focuses on the role of bystanders in preventing domestic violence, had 88,000 visits by mid December.

The ubiquity and popularity of social media have made it easier for people to keep track of one another. This has presented professionals who work with victims of domestic violence with a host of opportunities and challenges.

When a woman is murdered in the United States, an intimate partner — a former or current dating partner or spouse — is often to blame. Black women like Dixon, Thornton, and Hammond are especially vulnerable. One government report found that African-American women were four times more likely than white women to be murdered by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Researchers say the phenomenon can be largely explained by the position black women occupy on the socioeconomic scale.