What’s New on WomensLaw.org

Based on a 2019 addition to the law that makes it illegal to possess a firearm if you are on probation pursuant to a deferred judgment for a felony, we updated two questions in our Nebraska State Gun Laws section. We also updated the links to resources found on Nebraska Legal Aid’s website on our Nebraska Custody page and Divorce page.

Based on 2019 amendments to the law, we added information to our Nebraska Suing an Abuser page about a trafficking victim’s right to sue the trafficker for money damages.

Based on 2019 additions to the law, in our Rhode Island Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section, we updated the information in Am I eligible? Do I file in family court or district court? regarding children who can be eligible for a restraining order. We also updated What protections can I get in a domestic violence restraining order? to include the fact that the judge can include a provision for the safety of household animals and pets. 

We added two statutes to our Selected Ohio Statutes page about suing in civil court if an abuser shares your private sexual images and the crime of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images.

We added the crime of “nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images” to our Selected Missouri Statutes page.

We added the crimes of strangulation in the first and second degrees to our Kentucky Selected Kentucky Statutes page.

Based on 2019 additions to the law, we revised three questions in our Nevada Restraining Orders section regarding the length of time that temporary and extended orders can last. The changes were made in the Orders for Protection Against Sexual Assault page, Orders for Protection Against Domestic Violence page, and Orders for Protection Against Stalking & Harassment page. All changes made in English and Spanish.

Based on 2019 additions to the law, we created three new questions in our Nevada Restraining Orders section. The question, entitled Can an order for protection be changed or ended early? was added to our Orders for Protection Against Sexual Assault page, Orders for Protection Against Domestic Violence page, and Orders for Protection Against Stalking & Harassment page. All changes made in English; Spanish coming soon.

Based on a new law, we created a Sexual Violence Protective Orders section in our Utah Restraining Orders section. 

We updated five resources on our Hawaii Legal Assistance and one resource on Lawyer Referral pages.

In our Utah Protective Orders due to Domestic Violence/Abuse section, we updated four questions based on changes in the law, including adding aggravated animal cruelty as an abusive act that could qualify someone for an order in What is the legal definition of domestic violence in Utah? 

In our Nevada Orders for Protection Against Domestic Violence section, based on 2019 changes to the law, we added information to Step 4: Service of process about requesting alternate service if law enforcement cannot serve the abuser at his/her home. We also updated the penalties for violating an order in What can I do if the abuser violates the order? Changes made in English; Spanish coming soon.

Based on 2019 changes to the law, in our Nevada Orders for Protection Against Domestic Violence section, we made the following changes: 1) We added three additional criminal acts that could qualify someone for an order in What is the legal definition of domestic violence in Nevada? 2) We updated the relationship requirements in Who is eligible for an order for protection against domestic violence? 3) We clarified the basis for granting a temporary order in What is an order for protection against domestic violence? What types of orders are there? All changes made in English and Spanish.

Based on a 2019 change to the law that increased the length of time that a protection order can be extended (from one year to three years), we revised the information in two questions in our Wyoming Protection Orders section.

We added the crimes of strangulation in the first and second degrees to our Kentucky Crimes page.

We updated the contact information for Safe on Seven Domestic Violence Center (S.O.S.) on our North Carolina Local Programs page.

We updated and reorganized our entire Domestic Violence in the Military section in English. This update involved rewriting many questions using new guidance that had been issued by the Department of Defense, updating outdated links, and adding new resources. Spanish coming soon!

We updated the resources on our Nebraska Download Court Forms page.

On our Louisiana Restraining Orders page, we revised the question What types of sexual assault protective orders are there? How long do they last? to add information about the court process and how an order may be renewed.

In our Maryland State Gun Laws page, we updated two questions based on changes to the law that expand the amount of crimes that are considered “crimes of violence” for firearm prohibition purposes. Changes were made in Spanish and English. 

In our Maryland Custody section, we revised the question What is mediation? Is it ordered for victims of abuse? to add information about the process for parties to request a substitute mediator and to clarify how many hours the mediation can last. All changes were made in English and Spanish.

We added the crime of “disclosing intimate images” to our Washington Crimes page iin English and Spanish and to the Selected Washington Statutes page in English.

We added the crime of “use of telephone to annoy, terrify, threaten, intimidate, harass or offend” to our Idaho Crimes page.

Based on new laws, we added two new questions to our Indiana Firearms Seizure and Retention page called What happens if a dangerous individual possesses a gun after the judge removes his/her firearms? and Under what circumstances can the firearms be returned to the individual? We also revised the information in the question How are firearms removed from a dangerous individual under this law? For how long are they removed?. We added four related statutes to our Selected Indiana Statutes page.

We added information on our Ohio Suing An Abuser page about suing in civil court if an abuser shares your private sexual images. We also added the corresponding statute to our Selected Ohio Statutes page.

We updated the contact information for the 244 courthouses on our Texas Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish. 

We translated into Spanish our Ohio Download Court Forms page.

We updated all 86 courthouses on our Ohio Courthouse Locations page in English and Spanish. We changed the contact information from the clerk’s office to the courts of common pleas and added each court’s website to make it easier for users to access the information that they need.

We translated into Spanish our recently created District of Columbia Extreme Risk Protection Orders page.

Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added added four new questions about non-parent visitation in the Who can get custody and visitation section of our Illinois Custody page. Spanish coming soon!

We translated into Spanish our Connecticut Local Programs.

We translated into Spanish over 200 organizations that are listed in our National Organizations page.

With the help of ASISTA, we completely re-wrote our T Visa for Trafficking Victims page in English to make it even more plain-language than it already was! Spanish coming soon. We also added one related statute in English to our Selected Federal Statutes page.

We added one new resource on our Chat Rooms and Message Boards page in English and Spanish. 

We translated into Spanish our Massachusetts Extreme Risk Protection Orders page.

Based on an email hotline response, we added the South Carolina statute on registering an out-of-state custody order to our Selected South Carolina Statutes page.

We added ASISTA to our National Organizations - Immigration page in English and Spanish.

We added a New Mexico Custody section in our Legal Information section, and we also added ten related statutes to our New Mexico Selected Statutes section. The additions are in English and Spanish!

Based on July 2019 changes to the law, we updated multiple questions in our Indiana Orders for Protection (due to Domestic Violence) page. We included new grounds for which a child can get an order to multiple questions; we re-wrote the question called Can I get an order for protection if I’m a minor?; and we added a new question called Aside from domestic or family violence, what are the other reasons for which I can get an order for protection? to include the new ground of harassment as the basis for an order. 

We translated into Spanish the new question How does an abuser give up his/her guns and ammunition? and the other two updated questions in our Colorado State Gun Laws page. 

We added a Litigation Abuse page in our About Abuse section in English and Spanish.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding criminal statutes of limitation to our Selected Indiana Statutes page. 

On our Georgia Crimes page, we updated the name of the crime that was formerly called “sexual assault” and is now called “improper sexual contact” based on a 2019 change to the law. Changes made in English and Spanish.

We revised the content in the Ways to educate yourself section in English and Spanish. We also relocated it to our Court System Basics section to make it easier to find.

Based on 2019 changes to the law, we added information to four questions in our D.C. State Gun Laws page in English and Spanish. We also hyperlinked various crimes that prohibit someone from getting a firearm to the definitions of those crimes to make the information easier to understand.

We translated into Spanish our Ohio Stalking or Sexually Oriented Offense Protection Orders section in our Restraining Orders page.

We translated into Spanish our Ohio Suing an Abuser page.

We translated into Spanish our recently added a question called Is a step-child considered to be a child for the purposes of VAWA? in our VAWA for Abuse Victims page. We also translated it in our U Visa for Crime Victims page and T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page. 

We translated into Spanish our Oregon Extreme Risk Protection Orders section in our Restraining Orders page.

We translated into Spanish our Reproductive Abuse and Coercion page on our Forms of Abuse section.

We translated into Spanish or Maryland question Under what circumstances can I request that the court records be shielded from public view? in our Restraining Orders page.

We translated into Spanish our Ohio Crimes page.

We translated into Spanish our Ohio Divorce page.

We updated the resources on our Ohio Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.

We updated the resources on our Virginia Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding modifying and discontinuing protection from abuse orders to our Selected Pennsylvania Statutes page. 

In our Arkansas Domestic Violence Orders of Protection page, we added information to What can I do if the abuser violates the order? about affirmative defenses that an abuser can claim at trial regarding the petitioner’s actions. We also added possible penalties for a Class D felony violation. Changes made in English; Spanish soon to come. We also added two related statutes to our Selected Arkansas Statutes page in English and Spanish.

We updated the resources on our Oregon Sheriff Departments page in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our Maryland Extreme Risk Protective Orders page.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added the definition of a “dating relationship” to the question Am I eligible to file for a DVRO? in our California Domestic Violence Restraining Orders section in English and Spanish. 

We updated and revised seven more questions in our T-Visa for Trafficking Victims page in English. Spanish coming soon!

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding fee waivers to our Selected Indiana Statutes page. 

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a law regarding paternity to our Selected Pennsylvania Statutes page. 

In our Ohio Custody page, we updated the links to the Ohio Bar Association in the question Where can I find more information about custody in Ohio?

We added an Oregon Extreme Risk Protective Orders page in English and 6 corresponding statutes to the Selected Oregon Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!

In Minnesota, we added a Housing Laws page with a short description of a law in Minnesota that allows certain tenants to end their lease. We will be adding more information to this page later.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added the law that allows a victim of abuse to terminate a lease to our Selected Minnesota Statutes page. 

In our Ohio Domestic Violence Protection Orders section, we updated Step 3: Service of process in The steps for obtaining a protection order.

We updated our Domestic Violence page to include information about dating violence and changed its name to Domestic Violence/Dating Violence in English. Spanish translation coming soon!

On our Safety Tips page, we added an introductory paragraph in order to define the term “safety plan.” The addition was made in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our updated Immigration Asylum page.