(Long Island, NY) “It is very important that we do all we can to protect those who are victims of domestic violence and to help them take back their lives,” Assemblyman Hennessey said. “These crucial measures will help provide much-needed advocacy and stronger protections for the victims.”
In an effort to address the problem of domestic violence in New York, Assemblyman Edward Hennessey (D-Medford) announced that he helped pass legislation to provide more assistance to and increase protections for its victims. One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and in the United States, it’s estimated that three women are murdered by their intimate partner each day (1). According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, in 2011, there were 7,569 reports of domestic violence in Suffolk County (2).
The Assembly’s legislative package would:
- prohibit employment discrimination against domestic violence victims (A.898);
- expose individuals or parties who fail to obey or enforce an order of protection to joint liability for all non-economic damages sought by a claimant after a factfinding
by a judge or jury (A.899); - require orders of protection issued in family court to be interpreted into the native language of the individuals involved (A.1084);
- require hospitals to establish policies and procedures regarding domestic violence, establish ongoing training programs on domestic violence for staff and designate
a hospital staff member to coordinate services to victims (A.2562); - prohibit housing discrimination against victims of domestic violence by forbidding landlords and property sellers from denying an individual the right to
purchase, rent, lease or inhabit housing (A.5387); and - make it illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she has committed a family offense by adding certain family offenses to the list of “serious offenses”
for which purchasing or possessing a license for a firearm, rifle or shotgun would constitute a class A misdemeanor (A.6390).
Each year, roughly 450,000 incidents of domestic violence are reported in the state (3), and in 2011, New York State courts issued a total of 301,021 orders of protection, of which 218,872 were required to be recorded in the United Court System’s Domestic Violence Registry (4).
The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act that passed earlier this year further safeguards domestic violence victims, requiring courts to suspend or
revoke a state pistol permit when issuing an order of protection upon determining that there is a substantial risk that the firearm could be used against the victim (Ch. 1 of 2013).
“We must give these victims the support system and resources they need to free themselves from abusive situations and break the chain of violence,” Assemblyman Hennessey
concluded.
