Having in mind that it’s the 21st century, I think almost everyone knows what domestic violence is, but do everyone know which are the states with toughest domestic violence laws?
Domestic violence is something that should have been overcome ages ago. If we look at the greatest human achievements concerning technology and science, it seems almost impossible that still, the relations between people are not on the satisfied level. What’s more shocking is that not only random human relations are not “regulated,” if we can use this phrase, but quite often that’s the case with family relations as well. You would think that this is not your case, or that it is impossible your future spouse is capable of hurting you, but never say never. What is more, sometimes even the profession can influence the rate of domestic violence. Haven’t you read 10 Professions With Highest Rate of Domestic Violence? Even though usually a man is the one who is abusing a woman, there are many cases of domestic violence where a woman is a molester. However, this information are hard to get, as men could be ashamed of admitting it. It is not my intention to frighten you when it comes to your future marriage plans or professions, but I think it is very important to be aware of the issue, and also to know which are the ways to protect yourselves in case bad things happen. And there is still no better-invented protection than the state laws on domestic violence.
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The first question that we should raise is how many states actually have domestic violence laws? As we are going to talk about the USA in particular, I am glad to announce that not only all of the states have national laws that regulate domestic violence, but this topic is also under the federal law. Domestic violence is considered to be a federal crime under the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”). Moreover, since 2011, twenty-six local governments in the United States have passed resolutions declaring freedom from domestic violence to be a fundamental human right, and also acknowledged the responsibility of the government to ensure that right. On the other hand, there are still many cases of domestic violence and if you want to get familiar with domestic violence by state ranking check out 15 States with Highest Rates of Domestic Violence in the US. Just to realize how lucky you Americans are, take a look at the 15 Biggest Countries Where Domestic Violence is Legal.
In order to create our list of the states with the toughest domestic violence laws, we first searched for some suggestions on the respectable resources such as the Family Find Law, the Denver Criminal Defense, and the Merchant Circle, to mention a few. To make better acquaintance with the topic and in order to make a ranking of domestic violence by state, we used The Law Dictionary and the Special Report of the Stop Abusive and Violent Environment organization or shortly, SAVE. The Report “Ranking of States’ Domestic Violence Laws” features information compiled from other SAVE Special Reports and other documents and it was presented in five tables. We considered the information from each of the tables and ranked the states in that manner. For reference’s sake, we took into consideration information from the table of the Overly-Broad Definitions of Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Arrest Laws and Harmfulness of Domestic Violence Laws by State.
Eager to read the results? Let’s look at the states with toughest domestic violence laws!
15. Colorado
In Colorado, the definition of the domestic violence includes stalking but excludes emotional criteria and harassment, which is a bit odd. However, the good thing is that the court must consider evidence of domestic violence in the child’s best interest. The law requires mandatory arrest in the case of domestic violence and for violation of restraining order. The overall ranking of Colorado is 34 out of 51 points on the list in the Special Report. In many states, as well as in Colorado there is a domestic violence hotline, which you can call in any time of the day.
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