By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Domestic Violence on Monday, June 20, 2016.
Johnny Depp was set to appear in court today over a domestic violence restraining order his wife filed in his divorce following claims of physical and verbal abuse. Why cancel?
As Salon reports, the World Health Organization reported an estimated 35% of women have been subjected to either intimate partner violence or sexual violence from a non-partner in their lifetime. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a survey and discovered some alarming statistics:
“The lifetime prevalence of physical violence by an intimate partner was an estimated 31.5% among women and in the 12 months before taking the survey, an estimated 4.0% of women experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner.
An estimated 22.3% of women experienced at least one act of severe physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes. With respect to individual severe physical violence behaviors, being slammed against something was experienced by an estimated 15.4% of women, and being hit with a fist or something hard was experienced by 13.2% of women.
In the 12 months before taking the survey, an estimated 2.3% of women experienced at least one form of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.”
Injunctions are issued ex parte, which means the accused has no notice of the proceedings and does not have the opportunity to defend themselves prior to its issuance.
Heard rescinded a request for temporary spousal support earlier this week, saying it’s been “used against me to distract and divert the public away from the very serious, real issue of domestic violence.
Far too many people use injunctions to gain a strategic. One study found that 59% of allegations of domestic violence between couples involved in custody disputes could not be substantiated by the courts as true.
What can be done if you are the victim of abuse? I’ve written about domestic violence issues before. In order to obtain an injunction against domestic violence, you must prove you are in imminent danger of becoming the victim of domestic violence. In addition to an injunction prohibiting domestic violence, Florida law allows for other types of injunctions as well, including:
Repeat violence injunctions, when two incidents of violence or stalking
Sexual violence injunctions, for certain criminal sexual acts are committed.
Dating violence injunctions, available to protect those who have a “continuing and significant relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” from violence.
From Hollywood marriages to the radical Islamic terrorist in Orlando, domestic violence can have tragic results if left alone.
The Salon article is here.