Toolkit with Report Form - Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic ...

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Section Six Myth: Women Lie About Being Abused Reality: Their Injuries And Actions Speak For Themselves Myth: A PFA Is Just A Piece Of Paper Reality: A PFA Has The Full Power Of The Court Behind It Our experience working with over 2.5 million victims, the majority of them women, is that they are battered, bruised and bloodied; have lived in fear and fled in terror; and seek justice, safety and peace of mind for themselves and their children. Our experience collaborating over three decades with the statewide network of providers of batterer intervention services is that many batterers accuse their victims of lying because they refuse to recognize or don’t realize that their behavior is abusive and criminal. It often takes months of intensive education and one-on-one sessions before a batterer acknowledges and stops minimizing and trivializing the violence and its impact. Myth: Women Use PFAs To Get Custody Reality: Custody Awards Prove Otherwise A National Institute of Justice study found that 35% of mothers alleging abuse were awarded primary custody, compared to 42% of mothers who did not allege abuse and were awarded custody. Protection From Abuse orders have protected hundreds of thousands of domestic violence victims in Pennsylvania from harm. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that protection orders (issued for 12 months or longer) are likely to reduce policereported physical violence by 80 percent. A protection order is never intended to be the only option for victims, who are encouraged to also work with an advocate at their local domestic violence program to create a safety plan that may include a shelter stay, relocation, pursuit of criminal charges, etc. It’s important to recognize that a PFA order is only as effective as the enforcement behind it, and lax and inconsistent enforcement by the courts and police can have deadly consequences. The American Psychological Association reports that allegations of abuse rarely result in the denial of parental contact, even when abuse is substantiated. page 46 When Crisis Strikes | Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence | 2012
Myth: Victims Violate Their Protection Orders Reality: This is Legally Impossible Protection orders are issued against batterers (defendants), not victims. Only a person against whom an order is entered can violate the order. The PFA Act provides that an order against the defendant and the victim can only be ordered if each party files a separate petition for relief and the court, after reviewing the evidence, concludes that each party committed acts of domestic violence. Myth: There’s No Penalty for Women Who Lie Reality: PA Laws & Court Rules Provide Sanctions for Lying Myth: Attorneys Encourage Clients to Allege Abuse Reality: Some Do, Most Don’t The vast majority of attorneys do not advise their clients to make false statements. Attorneys admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar are expressly prohibited from using or advising their clients to use false statements to advance a case under Rule 8.1. Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters. Any member of the Pennsylvania Bar who encourages their client to make false statements should be reported to the Pennsylvania Bar Association for disciplinary action. When attorneys encourage their clients to lie about abuse to gain an advantage in court, the flaw is with their ethics, not with the Protection From Abuse Act. Section Six Pennsylvania’s Protection From Abuse Act provides sanctions for making false allegations, including paying damages and attorney fees. In addition, accountability measures for plaintiffs who provide false testimony exist in court rule (Pa.R.C.P). No. 1023.1). Myth: Judges Rubber Stamp Protection Orders Reality: It Just Isn’t So Judges are charged with providing both parties an opportunity to be heard and carefully considering evidence in a PFA case, just as they would in any other civil case. Frequently, judges do not rule in favor of the plaintiff. In addition, both plaintiffs and defendants have the right to appeal judicial decisions in PFA cases. When Crisis Strikes | Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence | 2012 page 47
Page 1 and 2: When Crisis Strikes: A Toolkit for
Page 3: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. When Crisis St
Page 6 and 7: Section ONE PCADV technical Assista
Page 8 and 9: Section two Involve other systems i
Page 10 and 11: COMMUNICATIONS Do: Don’t: Do: Don
Page 12 and 13: Responding to Subpoena for Program
Page 14 and 15: Section four PROTECTING CONFIDENTIA
Page 16 and 17: Section four RESPONDING TO A subpoe
Page 18 and 19: Section four ◗ Staff should never
Page 20 and 21: Section five 4. Trauma ◗ A unique
Page 22 and 23: Section five E. Take Care of Staff
Page 24 and 25: Section five A Team Approach Most c
Page 26 and 27: Section five Communication with Fam
Page 28 and 29: Section five Take Care of Staff Fee
Page 30 and 31: Section five Vicarious Trauma Impli
Page 32 and 33: Section five Bringing in Other Indi
Page 34 and 35: Section five Physical Injury Severe
Page 36 and 37: Section five In securing personal i
Page 38 and 39: Section five Children and Death Whe
Page 40 and 41: Section five Appendix Resources Res
Page 42 and 43: Section six Managing Communications
Page 44 and 45: Section Six A Reference Guide to th
Page 46 and 47: Section Six Preparing Victims and S
Page 48 and 49: Section Six DISPELLING MYTHS Myth:
Page 52 and 53: Section Six Myth: There’s Nothing
Page 54 and 55: Section seven Individual and Commun
Page 56 and 57: Section seven Honoring Victims Prof
Page 58 and 59: Section seven Community Awareness E
Page 60 and 61: Section seven Randi’s Race This a
Page 62 and 63: Section 1: General Information Prog

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