In an effort to help victims rebuild their lives after domestic violence incidents, Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson (D-Rochester/Chili/Henrietta) announced that he sponsored legislation that would provide more assistance to, and increase protections for, victims of domestic violence.

“Domestic violence has sadly become all too prevalent across New York State,” Assemblymember Bronson said. “This type of violence takes many forms and affects all types of families. The Assembly’s legislative package would help protect the victims of domestic violence and crack down on those who commit these terrible crimes.”

The Assembly’s legislative package would:

• prohibit employment discrimination against domestic violence victims (A.898);
• 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);
• require orders of protection issued in family court to be interpreted into the native language of the individuals involved (A.1084);
• 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 fact-finding by a judge or jury (A.899);
• 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); and
• provide notice on orders of protection affirming that the protected party cannot be held to violate the order nor be arrested for violating the order (A.6547-A).

In 2011, 6,232 incidents of domestic violence were reported in Monroe County alone.ⁱ That same year, 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.ⁱⁱ 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.ⁱⁱⁱ

“Those affected by domestic violence often suffer from extensive physical and psychological damage that they may never be able to fully recover from,” Assemblymember Bronson said. “These victims need our help and resources to get back on their feet and this legislative package would greatly assist in helping them move forward.”

i. www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/ojsa/domesticviolence/monroe.pdf

ii. www.opdv.state.ny.us/statistics/nydata/2011/nys2011data.pdf

iii. www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/