Domestic Violence Survivors
Why is it that violent crimes against women and children have such a high rate at which they are not reported, or prosecuted, or both? DV Victims deserve our support and our aide in order to help them, their children, and their pets get out of a bad situation before it turns deadly. An expansion of support and aide services.
As a Survivor of Childhood Domestic Violence, I can not only sympathize, but truly empathize with DV Survivors. There are quite a few pieces of legislation that I would like to enact within my 1st year. The main two would be as follows:
If an accused Offender or Perpetrator of Domestic Violence is awaiting trial for ANY VIOLENT CRIME, most especially one committed with a deadly weapon like a gun, knife or vehicle, the accused will NOT be allowed ANY bail and will be held in jail until their court hearing at which time they will be tried for their accused crime. This will be to protect the victim(s) of the attacker from any further harm until a trial for the accused is held, including attacks of retaliation and revenge.
If the reason why a spouse is leaving the marriage through Divorce (or Dissolution of the Marriage) is due to Domestic Violence (most especially DV committed with a deadly weapon), the Victim Spouse and any minor children in the Victim Spouse’s care at the time of the accused Offender Spouse’s arrest, will have an AUTOMATIC Protection Order granted. Any parenting time with the accused Offender Spouse/Parent will be temporarily denied until their 1st hearing or trial and at which time the courts may see fit to allow supervised parenting time.
These 2 pieces of legislation I hope to enact come from my own personal life and from friends who are currently dealing with this type of situation.
For some background as to why this is so important to me:
Shortly after my 18th birthday, my grandparents adopted me in order to provide me with a path to safety from my biological father who had just been charged as Not Guilty of Domestic Violence -Misdemeanor - 1st Degree against my mother and I, but was at that time, awaiting trial for charges of Possession of Child Pornographic Materials, which he was eventually found guilty of, and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
Without my grandparents to provide me safety, a home, access to health insurance, psychiatric counseling and so much more, I would not be here today, happy, healthy, and most importantly HEALED. I owe so much of my life to their never ending fight to protect me, and my mother. And now, I hope to enact legislation that will put laws in place to protect others who are in similar situation that my mother and I faced when I was a teenager.