How Jennifers’ Law Would Expand the Scope of Domestic Violence

 

This guest post is from Nicole Sanzo, Regent Family Law student:

Although the name Jennifers’ Law is not an official legislative title, this is how advocates refer to this bill. A little background: this bill was first named after Jennifer Dulos, the New Canaan, CT mother who vanished in May 2019 and whose estranged husband was charged in her death and disappearance. Jennifer sought a restraining order and emergency custody of her five children. She was denied because she was unable to show that her husband, Fotis Dulos, whom she left in 2017, had physically harmed her. The bill also came to include Jennifer Magnano of Terryville, CT who was shot dead on the front steps of her house in 2007 after a four-month struggle to be free from her abusive husband. Although lawmakers do not formally recognize the bill as Jennifers’ Law the name symbolizes and recognizes all victims of domestic violence.

Jennifers’ Law would not only expand the definition of domestic violence but could come to help the stigma surrounding domestic violence as a whole. The bill proposes to include several forms of emotional and other abuse as well as adding the concept of coercive control, which is a non-physical form of abuse. By definition coercive control is a term that is used to describe the controlling nature of an abusive relationship and encompasses the aspects of power and control, physical and non-physical, with intent to harm another emotionally and to exert control over another. Some examples of this are gas-lighting, humiliation, blackmail, financial abuse, threats to take away children, and domination.

This proposed bill will shine a light on the different forms of domestic abuse as well as apply change to the family law statues regarding protective orders, divorce, and custody. This bill would require courts to prioritize the safety of children in any case involving domestic violence. A few other noteworthy things in this bill are that it would require judicial training on these issues and an annual presentation, open to the public. It would also add “intimate partner violence or domestic violence” to the recognized legal reasons to dissolve a marriage. It would also apply this new definition of coercive control to civil restraining orders (TROs), and makes the application process available online, permanently.

Often officials who deal with domestic violence victims, including police, lawyers, and judges focus only of the physical aspect of abuse without even thinking about psychological and emotional abuse, and the toll that can take on someone. This bill would ensure that victims are believed and protected and would give them an avenue to seek legal assistance and know that the law is on their side – a step in the direction of family restoration.