| Legal Advocacy |
|
Legal Information and Advocacy for Those Experiencing Domestic Violence
Legal Aid Society of Cleveland - Ohio State Legal Advocacy Association - Definition of Domestic Violence - Ohio Domestic Violence Law - Domestic Violence Training & Protocol Requirements - Danger Assessment
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland's Mission is: To secure justice and resolve fundamental problems for those who are low income and vulnerable by providing high quality legal services and working for systemic solutions. Call 216-687-1900 for more information or to http://www.lasclev.org/needhelp.html The Ohio State Legal Advocacy Association http://www.ohiodvresources.org/vicinfo/ has a specific resource web-site for domestic violence. The site will allow you to access appropriate community and legal resources to help you deal with your abusive situation. It also contains information regarding the court system and your rights and options under Ohio law. Please be careful where you put any of the documents you print from this and any web-page. Abusive individuals can become even more abusive and angry when they learn that you are taking steps to protect yourself or better your situation. Domestic Violence, also called intimate partner violence (IPV), is an ongoing, debilitating pattern of physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse involving force or threat of force, associated with increased isolation from the outside world and limited personal freedom and accessibility to resources. A battered person is any person who has been physically injured or emotionally or sexually abused by a person from a current or past intimate relationship. These include:• Physical abuse or violence: “The intentional use of physical force with the potential for causing death, disability, injury or harm” • Sexual violence or abuse: “Use of physical force (and intimidation or pressure) to compel a person to engage in a sexual act against her or his will, whether or not the act is completed.”• Emotional or psychological abuse “…involving trauma to the victim caused by acts, or coercive tactics.” Emotional abuse represents the psychological burden and consequences or trauma of physical and/or sexual assault as well as verbal and psychological abuse including humiliation, deprivation, and coercion. Other examples of emotional or psychological abuse are rooted in financial and social areas and include controlling money, use of the car, contact with friends and family and other extracurricular activities. For example: frequent calls on the cell phone, monitoring voice mail or caller id history on the phone, hiding the car keys or taking the battery out of the car so that they are late for work, setting limits on who the victim can see and what they can do in their spare time.While the great majority of victims of domestic violence are female, it is important to remember that males can also experience domestic violence and that domestic violence occurs in both heterosexual and same sex relationships. Patterns of Violence Scope and breadth of violence varies in relationships. However, three aspects remain consistent: isolation, intimidation, and control. Domestic violence victims frequently find themselves trapped as the violence increases in frequency and severity over time and may demonstrate symptoms often seen in post-traumatic stress disorders. Definition: ORC 2901.01 A) “Serious physical harm to persons” means any of the following: (1) Any mental illness or condition of such gravity as would normally require hospitalization or prolonged psychiatric treatment; (2) Any physical harm which carries a substantial risk of death; (3) Any physical harm which involves some permanent incapacity, whether partial or total, or which involves some temporary, substantial incapacity; (4) Any physical harm which involves some permanent disfigurement, or which involves some temporary, serious disfigurement; (5) Any physical harm which involves acute pain of such duration as to result in substantial suffering, or which involves any degree of prolonged or intractable pain. Domestic Violence: 2919.25 A) No person shall knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm to a family or household member. B) No person shall recklessly cause serious physical harm to a family or household member. C) No person, by threat of force, shall knowingly cause a family or household member to believe that the offender will cause imminent physical harm to the family or household member. Domestic Violence Training & Protocol Requirements: 3727.08 • Health care professionals who have reasonable grounds to believe a patient has been a victim of domestic violence shall note that in the patient’s record. • Requires every hospital to adopt protocols for conducting interviews and creating a photographic record of injuries-when there is reasonable cause to believe domestic violence has occurred. • Conforms Ohio definition of family members to include domestic violence committed by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common.DANGER ASSESSMENT - Jacquelyn C. Campbell, Ph.D., R.N. Copyright 1985, 1988, 2001 Please use this one-page survey to discuss with your physician, nurse, advocate or counselor about what the Danger Assessment means in terms of your situation. Please be careful where you put any of the documents you print from this and any web-page. Abusive individuals can become even more abusive and angry when they learn that you are taking steps to protect yourself or better your situation. Danger Assessment in Microsoft Word - 1 page
IF YOU ARE IN IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL DANGER: CALL 91124 HOUR HELPLINES - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CENTER: CALL 216-391-HELP (4357) UNITED WAY FIRST CALL FOR HELP: CALL 211 The Shelter is not directly affiliated with any of the above agencies or programs, linking does not imply endorsement of programs or services by either party. |