Domestic Violence

RUNNING HEAD: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE LAW 1

Domestic Violence and the Law

Jennifer Beverly

Kaplan University

LS481: Directed Studies in Legal Studies

Professor Mindy Hamilton

July 1, 2013

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE LAW 2

Domestic Violence and the Law

Domestic violence, defined as “threatening or injurious physical, psychological, sexual, verbal or economic behavior directed toward an intimate partner, regardless of marital status or whether the behavior occurs within current or terminated relationships” (Erez, 2002)., not only affects the victim, it affects the children of the victim, the abuser, the family of the victim, the criminal justice system and society. While effective to a certain extent, the laws surrounding domestic violence need to be more effective in protecting those that are victims of domestic violence on a long term basis and executing significant punishment to those that are the abusers. Laws are put in place to protect those that need protecting and to bring order to our everyday lives. Over the years the laws surrounding the issue of domestic violence have evolved, but there is still room for improvement. Most battered women’s shelters allow a maximum stay of thirty days, there should be laws in place that protect the victim for a longer period of time. Battered women should be allowed to stay until they find a safe place to reside. As for the abusive person, instead of attending a thirty day program, there should be laws in place that offer long term help to the abuser and also punish the abuser so that he or she no longer brings harm to their loved ones. Domestic violence affects society as a whole; it is time to put an end to this widespread epidemic and create laws that actually protect the victim and punish the abuser.

There are federal and state laws established for domestic violence offenders. Issues of domestic...