Updates and Improvements from WomensLaw
April 2, 2014
In the past few months, WomensLaw – a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) – has made valuable updates and substantial improvements to WomensLaw.org for our more than 1.1 million annual visitors, all while continuing to answer the WomensLaw Email Hotline.
In addition, WomensLaw was invited to conduct an in-person training for more than 30 victim advocates in Connecticut. At the request and with support from the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, WomensLaw Legal Director Stacey Sarver trained advocates on how to avoid the unauthorized practice of law in their work with victims.
Find out more about what else is new on WomensLaw.org…
What’s new in March 2014:
- Updated links to information from outside sources on our divorce page for Utah
- Added brief info about Oregon’s new Sexual Assault Protective Orders (SAPOs), which became effective on 1/1/14
- Added the newly-created statutes to our Oregon Statutes page
- Please check back in the Summer of 2014 when we hope to have a whole new section on the website devoted to SAPOs.
What’s new in February 2014:
- Re-wrote the question “Where can I find more information about custody in Indiana?” on our Indiana Custody page
- Updated/improved the links to outside sources on our Indiana Divorce page
- Updated links to information from outside sources on our divorce pages for Wisconsin, Nevada, and West Virginia
- Updated all of the contact information for legal services offices on our West Virginia Finding a Lawyer page
- Based on a change to Connecticut law that clearly lays out the circumstances under which someone can ask for an emergency ex parte custody order, added a question to our Connecticut Custody page called “Can I get an emergency ex parte custody order?”
- Prompted by an email from a WomensLaw.org visitor, updated some outdated links in English and Spanish on our Helping Others – Doctors and Health Care Workers page
What’s new in January 2014:
- In Illinois, additional restrictions have been added to the law that could prohibit someone from getting a firearm owner’s identification card. This information can be crucial for a victim whose abuser has or plans to get a firearm.
- Added a new question to our Washington, DC, Custody page based on a June 2013 law prohibiting a convicted rapist from getting custody or visitation of a child conceived from the rape.
- See “If my child was conceived from a sexual assault, can the biological father get custody or visitation?”
- We also added the definitions of the sexual abuse crimes that come under the law to our DC Statutes page and our DC Crimes page.
- As of January 1, 2014, California law added victims of human trafficking to the group of protected people who can terminate their lease without penalty, recognized a new form of acceptable documentation of the abuser, and added a new obligation of the landlord to keep the victim’s status confidential.
- We updated our California Housing Laws section in English and Spanish to reflect these changes.
- We added a new question called “If I reveal that I am a victim to my landlord, can s/he tell other people?”
- Added information to our Arkansas Domestic Violence Orders of Protection page and our Arkansas Suing Your Abuser page about a law that was passed in August 2013, which allows a victim of stalking to sue the stalker for money damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, and court costs, regardless of whether or not they were arrested for stalking.
- Thanks to those organizations that contacted us this month with corrections/additions, we added a new resource to our Washington, DC Legal Resources page called the Amara Legal Center, which helps those whose rights have been violated through the commercial sex industry.
- Corrected contact information for various other local programs in AL, TN, and AZ