Updates and Improvements from WomensLaw

April 2, 2014

April 2, 2014 – In the past few months WomensLaw has made valuable updates and substantial improvements to the WomensLaw.org website — all while continuing to answer the Email Hotline — for our more than 1.1 million annual visitors.

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 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.
• WomensLaw added brief info about Oregon’s new Sexual Assault Protective Orders, which became effective on 1/1/14. We also added the newly-created statutes to our OR 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 and we updated/improved the links to outside sources on our IN Divorce page.
• Updated links to information from outside sources on our divorce pages for Wisconsin, Nevada, andWest Virginia as well as updating all of the contact information for legal services offices on our WV 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, we 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• Prompted by an email from a WomensLaw.org visitor, we updated some outdated links in English and Spanish on our Helping Others – Doctors and Health Care Workers page. (Please keep the suggestions coming!)

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. See “I do not have an order of protection against the abuser, and s/he has not been convicted of a crime. Can s/he have a gun?”
• 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 Statutespage 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 CA Housing Laws section in English and Spanish to reflect these changes and 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 AR 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 costsregardless of whether or not s/he was arrested for stalking.
• Thanks to those organizations who contacted us this month with corrections/additions. We now 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. We also corrected contact information for various other local programs in AL, TN, and AZ. (Please keep letting us know about any updated information!)