Legal Information: Massachusetts

Restraining Orders

View all
Updated: 
November 30, 2021

Who is eligible for a harassment prevention order?

Any person who is being harassed can file for a harassment prevention order. It does not matter who the person harassing you is. It can be a stranger, someone you know, an intimate partner, a friend, or family member.1

However, if the person harassing you is a spouse, intimate partner, or a family or household member, you may want to consider getting an abuse prevention order instead. With an abuse prevention order, the judge can include a lot more types of protections than in a harassment prevention order.

1 See M.G.L.A. 258E § 1

Legal Information

WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors, no matter their sex or gender.

© 2008–2021 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.