Tougher Laws against Domestic Violence

                Women have been fighting for years to receive tougher laws against their abusers.  Restraining orders were hard against your husband or live in spouse.  If children were involved it made the situation that more difficult. 

                After going through an abusive relationship for years I noticed that the law did not protect me from this man.  To me it seemed as if he had more rights than me.  After the police would pick him up he was ordered to stay away from me for 72 hours.  It sounds good on paper but he would still come back as soon as he was released on his on recognizance.  I would call the police but if he was gone before they came it was nothing they could do.

                Domestic violence occurs all over the world and the laws are very different than in the United States.  In September of 2009 Home Secretary Alan Johnson of the UK established new laws to protect abused women.  "It is not right that victims of domestic violence, who have already suffered so much, are forced out of their home. It is both safer and fairer to remove the abuser (Tough, 2009).  Instead of asking the victim to leave the law now requires the abuser to leave the house for 14 consecutive days.  This new law gives the victim time to sort out what course of action she would like to take.  If the woman decides to leave this gives her ample time to pack her belongs and relocate.  This new law is referred to as a “GO’ “order (Tough, 2009).

                                A similar law has been implemented in Austria, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and, more recently, Poland.  Since the law was implemented there the rate of domestic violence convictions has went up to a 72 percent (Tough, 2009).

                I think that the United States should adapt the same type of law.  Giving the victim 14 days versus 72 hours is a much longer time frame to make decisions about what course of action she would like to take.  I am so happy that other countries have stepped up to the plate to provide tougher laws against domestic violence.

Tough new powers to help victims break cycle of domestic violence. M2PressWIRE (September 29, 2009): Newspaper Source Plus. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from the EBSCOhost  Database.