University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Abusers often ignore restraining orders

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Abusers often ignore restraining orders

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Content ABUSERS OFTEN IGNORE RESTRAINING ORDERS
by
Isabella Zavarise
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
August 2022
Copyright 2022 Isabella Zavarise
Table of Contents
List of Tables..……………………………………………………………..…..…………………ii
Abstract……………………………………………………….………………………………….iii
Abusers Often Ignore Restraining Orders........................................................................1
Bibliography: Sources.....................................................................................................25
Appendix: Interviews.......................................................................................................26
List of Tables
Figure 1: Police Response to DVRO’s and Violations appears on page 7 of the
manuscript
ii
Abstract
Restraining orders in California have been granted at an increasing rate year
after year. Most of these orders are domestic violence related and serve to protect those
who request them. Unfortunately, a disturbing trend is taking place. In analyzing data
from the Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department, restraining
order violations are rising. Through interviews with legal experts and domestic violence
advocates, the consensus is that when these orders are violated, there is little done to
hold abusers accountable. Advocates want to see law enforcement engage in more
training so they are properly versed in reading these order violations. While officers
acknowledge there is a gap in training, they also say the law limits their actions when an
order is violated. The result is that survivors of domestic violence live in fear that their
abusers will continue to flout the law and put them in serious harm.
This thesis focuses on what needs to change in order to protect those most
vulnerable through interviews with people at the center of this issue.
iii
Abusers Often Ignore Restraining Orders
On the day Elizabeth was granted a restraining order, her abuser violated it three
times.
First, her estranged husband showed up at their children’s school. Then, when
she was driving her seven-year-old daughter to church, she saw him sitting in his car,
staring at them. The third time was when he followed them inside the church. After
years of physical and verbal abuse, Elizabeth wanted a restraining order although they
were challenging to obtain.
“It’s scary,” said Elizabeth, who asked that her last name not be used. “Every day
at my office I have to look out the window before I go to the restroom to look for his car.
It’s an awful way to live. I have not been to the grocery store since January.”
A family lawyer who works in Los Angeles, but asked to speak on background,
said one reason why it can be difficult to obtain a restraining order is because of the
sexism and misogyny that exists in some courts. She said there are judges who don’t
believe survivors. Consider switching this graf and the following one. Your call
Elizabeth said no one told her what to do if the order was violated. She called her
attorney, who advised her to call the police. When they showed up, she said, one of the
officers made an error on the police report, which then had to be redone.
1
“I don’t think they’ve [police] been trained. The first one that came, I had to show
him the restraining order, show him the part that said he can’t be there,” she said.
The case was handed to a district attorney, who, Elizabeth said, told her that
while her estranged husband was supposed to stay 100 yards away, no one got hurt
when he violated the order. He wasn’t arrested and no additional charges were added
because, Elizabeth said, the D.A. believed the violation was not sufficiently violent.
While the temporary restraining order (TRO) helped to ease Elizabeth’s worries,
it only remains in place for 20 to 25 days. Elizabeth wanted a permanent restraining
order on her estranged partner and eventually acquired one for five years.
Those closest to her and her children all have a copy in case he shows up. Every
teacher and coach has one, too. Elizabeth has them in her purse and car, and her
children even have them in their backpacks.
Elizabeth’s situation, while harrowing, is not unique. Court-issued restraining
orders are often considered the best protection to shield survivors of domestic violence
them from their abusers. They require documentation and a judge’s approval. In
California, violators can receive a year of jail time. In recent years, Los Angeles County
has been relying increasingly on them, with 51,391 issued in 2019, a rise of 13.4% from
two years prior. Most of these were related to domestic violence, though it is difficult to
2
determine an exact number. (Due to the courts being closed for certain services during
the pandemic, data from 2020 is incomplete.)
Domestic violence survivors, advocates and even some in law enforcement
describe a fundamental flaw in the system: An abuser who violates a restraining order
rarely faces consequences. This can leave people exposed, or with a false sense of
security that could place them in greater danger.
“It’s common knowledge that nothing happens when restraining orders are
violated,” said Rachelle Neshkes, a senior attorney at the Los Angeles Center for Law
and Justice.
Neshkes believes the problem is only getting worse as word of mouth gets
around that there are few repercussions for violating a restraining order.
“I can say with confidence that among the clients that I have, the confidence of
abusers based on the lack of criminal prosecution has given rise to more incidents of
domestic violence that go unprosecuted, unenforced,” she said.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three
women and one in four men have experienced some form of physical violence by an
intimate partner. For Black women and those in the LGBTQ community, domestic
violence occurs at an equal or even higher rate compared with their white, heterosexual
3
counterparts. In 2012, fewer than 5% of LGBTQ survivors of intimate partner violence
sought orders of protection.
Bernita Walker, the co-founder and executive director of Project: Peacemakers, a
domestic violence advocacy organization, said domestic violence is the most
underreported crime in the nation.
“We say one out of every four women is a victim of domestic violence, but it’s
higher than that,” she said.
Orange County has been granting restraining orders at a rate similar to that of
Los Angeles County. In 2019, the courts issued 51,347 orders, an increase of 13% from
2017. Most of these restraining orders are in response to domestic violence. For
Riverside County, the increase from 2017 to 2019 was 6.5%.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department data, in 2021, there were 843
domestic violence restraining order violations in the city. The year prior, there were 763.
Yet those who work in the field say that is the tip of the iceberg. The actual number of
violations is significantly greater.
4
Stephanie Saxton’s abuser violated her restraining order at least 25 times,
showing up at her home whenever he pleased. When Saxton called the police, she
said, they offered little help and suggested she file for divorce. Eventually, an officer
trained in domestic violence was at her home when her estranged husband appeared.
“He was like, ‘He's going to kill you, he’s following you,’” Saxton said.
Saxton eventually divorced her abuser. She’s now a lawyer and helps other
women experiencing domestic violence. She said a restraining order is often the only
legal recourse. Still, abusers violate them routinely without suffering any repercussions.
“Most of the time, even if they do have a good case against the abuser, the cop
has messed up the search or the evidence before they even get there and it ruins their
case. This is a police issue. It's a judge issue,” Saxton said.
The decision to file a restraining order can be difficult for people who have been
on the receiving end of ongoing emotional, physical and financial abuse. For instance,
some of the tactics batterers use to exert financial control include stealing money from
their partners, maxing out their credit cards or preventing a victim from attending their
place of work. Research from The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
(NCADV) found that in 2007, 21-60% of victims lost their jobs due to abuse.
5
Saxton said at one point her ex told her to drop the restraining order in exchange
for money. She ended up doing it because she couldn’t afford otherwise to feed her
family.
“I was so desperate. I didn't know what to do,” she said. “It was the biggest
mistake I ever made in my entire life but I had zero support.”
Michael Waldren, an attorney with Community Legal Aid of Southern California,
said the statistics the LAPD keeps on restraining order violations pale in comparison to
the actual number of incidents. He said the pandemic exacerbated the problem because
of limited court services. Additionally, there were concerns that abusers were being
diverted from jails and sent back home in the effort to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus.
He said that during the lockdown the police were neither catching nor releasing
violators because they had nowhere to put them.
Calculating how many times law enforcement failed to adequately respond to a
report of a violation of a domestic violence restraining order is exceedingly difficult.
That’s because police only keep records of what actions they take, not when they do
nothing.
6
However, the LAPD does track how many calls they receive relating to domestic
violence restraining orders through its 911 service or other hotlines. Those total around
15 per day. That number can be compared with the number of times the LAPD logs an
official violation of a domestic violence restraining order, usually twice a day.
For example, in 2020, the LAPD received 5,126 calls about domestic violence
restraining orders, but only filed 765 reports of restraining order violations, less than
15% of the total.
Figure 1: Police Response to DVRO’s and Violations
7
Det. Marie Sadanaga, the coordinator of the Los Angeles Police Department’s
domestic violence unit, said officers may have difficulty enforcing restraining orders
because, when they get to a scene, they need to ensure the order is valid. That means
they must have proof that the abuser has been properly notified of the order.
“Until it's served to the restrained party, it's not valid. Sometimes the copy that
victims will give us won't have that proof of service on it. So we can't enforce the order
at that point,” she said.
Sadanaga said patrol officers also do not receive enough training about domestic
abuse and need to be reminded how to respond to domestic violence restraining order
calls. She added that there have been instances when officers look up a restraining
order in their database and nothing comes up—even when the survivor has a physical
copy.
“And so then there's some confusion on, ‘Wait, is this valid? How do you have
this paper order that looks valid but then it's in the system [as] invalid?’ So it can get
confusing to try and enforce it at those points,” she said.
Detective Jason Perez has been with the Los Angeles Police Department for 24
years and works in the major assault crimes division which includes domestic violence
and stalking.
8
Perez said restraining orders are effective but for the 10-20% of the population
who don’t follow them, they create more anger.
“The piece of paper doesn't protect you when someone's knocking, kicking at
your door,” he said.
Restraining order violations are classified as misdemeanors because they
typically aren’t committed in an officer’s presence. Law enforcement uses tools like a
private person’s arrest or they conduct a full investigation to initiate a court date. A
person can be arrested if the officer determines the court order is credible, if the person
who violated the order is present, or if there is evidence that proves they violated the
order.
Perez works on the westside of Los Angeles, where he said it can be difficult for
a restraining order to be granted because most people have lawyers and can therefore
pay to fight them. People who don’t have money or a legal team are at a disadvantage.
Bob Martin, a retired LAPD officer and personal threat and security expert,
helped create the LAPD’s threat-management unit that oversees cases of harassment
and stalking. When Martin first joined the department, there was no training related to
domestic violence even though it was one of the most dangerous calls. He said a big
portion of an officer’s performance evaluation is related to how many times they do
something, whereas a detective’s performance evaluation is based on how many cases
they file with the city attorney and DA. Martin said a detective is not going to file a case
they don’t think they can win and in many domestic violence cases, if there are no
injuries, they can be hard to prove.
9
“There’s a big part of the system that’s flawed. Accountability is a huge issue,”
Martin said.
Pallavi Dhawan, the director of domestic violence policy at the Los Angeles City
Attorney's office, said the LAPD is currently working with her office to develop a training
program on best practices to handle restraining order violations. She said there are
concerns with how restraining orders are enforced.
“Sometimes we hear complaints from survivors who say that law enforcement
doesn't take their call seriously,” she said.
The effectiveness of restraining orders is measured according to two different
metrics. The first is the number of restraining order violations and the second is the
victims’ perceptions of effectiveness and sense of increased safety. Domestic violence
advocates say generally, studies prove that restraining orders are between 60 to 80
percent effective in reducing or stopping abuse.
A 2004 study compared the types and frequencies of intimate partner violence
experienced by Black, Hispanic and white women before and after a two year protection
order. Women who applied and qualified for a two-year protection order, irrespective of
whether or not they were granted the order, reported significantly lower levels of
violence during the following 18 months (Batten et al. 2004).
10
Despite their perceived effectiveness, restraining orders only work if abusers
abide by the law. Dr. Carolann Peterson, a retired lecturer at the University of Southern
California who specializes in domestic violence, said whether restraining orders are
followed depends on the abuser.
“Every abuser threatens to kill. The problem is, I can’t tell you who's actually
going to carry it out and who isn’t. And that’s the same problem you’ve got with a
restraining order: Who's going to follow it, who's going to disobey it, who's going to wait
until it expires,” she said.
Domestic violence is one of the most frequent and dangerous calls that police
officers receive. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Fatalities Report,
seven of the 48 officers killed by firearms in 2020 were responding to domestic violence
calls.
Yet professionals who work in the field say they still struggle to get the police to
understand the gravity of the issue.
“Enforcement of restraining orders does not have the priority that we feel it
should,” said Alyson Messenger, the managing staff attorney at Jenesse Center, a
non-profit domestic violence prevention and intervention organization.
11
One of the overarching concerns, Messenger added, is that police do not fully
understand and are unprepared to respond adequately to domestic violence calls. She
said this is troubling in part because survivors must endure a lengthy legal process.
“It comes up repeatedly with our client population. ‘You know, I have this
restraining order, he continues to violate it, the police aren’t doing anything,’” Messenger
said. “Generally, nothing happens until there have been multiple violations and/or a
serious threat or actual assault has occurred.”
Messenger said this attitude from some in law enforcement has seeped into
addressing other domestic violence-related issues as well.
For instance, Jenesse Center has three Domestic Abuse Response Team
(DART) contracts with the LAPD’s 77th Street Division. When officers receive calls
about domestic violence, they are asked to contact Jenesse Center so they can do the
follow-up investigation and work with the survivor.
Messenger said Jenesse has been advocating for years to have a second officer
assigned to the team.
12
“You have the perfect vehicle to really address this issue in a meaningful way and
potentially reduce the number of calls that you’re receiving and that’s the DART
program, but because they won’t allocate the resources needed to really make it
effective, it’s not doing half of what it could be doing,” she said.
To obtain a restraining order in California, one must provide evidence of abuse
and fill out a series of forms, including the 28-question DV-100. A judge then spends
several minutes deciding whether or not to grant a temporary restraining order that day.
If an order is filed, it can be three weeks until the case is heard in court.
Even then, judges can reject the request if they feel there is not enough evidence
or risk.
One woman, who spoke on the promise of anonymity due to safety concerns,
said she has a permanent restraining order against her ex-husband but struggled to
initially get a temporary restraining order. She went to three courthouses in Los Angeles
and Chatsworth to obtain the temporary restraining order but said no judge believed her
story. Each time, she waited in line, filled out the forms and pleaded her case but was
not granted an order despite her abuser attempting to kill her in front of her children.
Her own divorce lawyer did not even want to handle her restraining order case
because of how difficult they can be to prove in court.
13
“He goes, ‘Restraining orders are impossible. You’re not going to get one,’” she
said.
Elizabeth also had issues obtaining her temporary order. It took her seven hours
to do it and once she did, she was required to bring it to her local police station for it to
be served. Despite her ex being in police custody at the time, she said officers refused
to serve him.
“They wouldn’t do it. I had to beg them to please serve him,” she said.
She thinks that what made her case strong enough to acquire the 5-year
permanent restraining order was that during the discovery process, her lawyers found
that her estranged husband had prior restraining orders against him. One was from his
ex-wife.
“I’m the third domestic violence restraining order against him. Never had any
idea,” she said.
Elizabeth said she was warned that what she had was only as good as a piece of
paper, and since her estranged husband has violated the order numerous times, she
believes it.
14
“I’m always concerned and looking over my shoulder because I wasn’t expecting
it,” she said.
Messenger said it’s common for survivors to give up because of how difficult and
inadequate the process to obtain and enforce a restraining order can be.
“Abusers are very, very savvy. One thing they are experts at is gaming and
manipulating the system, and they recognize the loopholes,” Messenger said.
While the level of evidence required to obtain a temporary restraining order is
low, being granted a permanent restraining order requires a lot of work. The petitioner
must prove their allegations to the court with evidence and this evidence must go
beyond declarations. Some of the things a petitioner will be asked to show are
documentation such as photographs, text messages, e-mails and other physical
evidence that support their claims. They must also provide specific acts of harassment,
threat or physical harm as evidence as well. For some women, they haven’t collected
this information because they either didn’t know they would need it, or they didn’t collect
enough documentation to make a strong case. For survivors who are not from the U.S.,
and English may not be their first language, it’s even more difficult to gather the
evidence they need.
15
Domestic violence didn’t receive much attention in the United States until one
particular case — Tracey Thurman. Law enforcement became galvanized after the
brutal beating of Thurman in the early 80’s.
Dr. Carolann Peterson said this case changed the trajectory of how police treated
domestic violence calls. Peterson called Thurman “the perfect victim” because she did
everything she could to protect herself and yet the system still failed her.
Tracey Thurman was a homemaker married to Charles “Buck” Thurman. They
had only been married a few years, but Thurman was already enduring severe abuse
from Buck. In order to get away from him, she decided to move from Florida to
Torrington, Connecticut, with their young son. Buck quit his job and tracked them down
shortly after.
When he found the family, Thurman filed a restraining order with the state.
Despite the order, Buck violated it multiple times. Every time Thurman called to report
her estranged husband violating the order, law enforcement told her there was nothing
they could do. This wasn’t the first time Buck had violated a restraining order. According
to an archived article in The Republican American, a Connecticut-based newspaper,
Buck had previously violated a restraining order from an ex-girlfriend.
16
During one particular incident, Thurman called 911 when Buck began banging on
her front door. An officer was sent to the home but before he could show up, Thurman
decided to go outside and try to calm her husband down.
“Her words were, ‘The minute I walked outside, I knew I'd made a mistake,’”
Peterson said.
Buck chased her to the backyard where he proceeded to stab her multiple times.
Moments later, the police officer showed up and knocked on her front door despite
hearing screams from the rear of the home. Eventually, more officers arrived to find
Thurman stabbed and beaten by her husband. Initially, no effort was made to arrest
Buck. Yet, while officers were on scene, Buck stomped on Thurman’s neck and kicked
her in the head, partially paralyzing her (Republican American Archives, 2008).
Buck was arrested nearly 40 minutes after officers first arrived. When the
paramedics showed up, they documented the scene and said police were in a state of
chaos (Republican American Archives, 2008).
Thurman spent 18 months in the hospital and sued the local police department.
During the court case, the first officer to show up at the home was questioned. In his
testimony, the cop admitted to hearing Thurman yell but said he wasn’t sure whether it
was a human or animal screaming (Robinson and Robinson, 2017).
17
In 1983, Buck was convicted of stabbing Thurman 13 times. He was sentenced
to 20 years for first degree assault but was released after 14 years (Republican
American Archives, 2008).
The district court ruled in favor of Thurman, finding there was “a pattern of
affording inadequate protection, or no protection at all, to women who have complained
of being abused by their husbands” (Kurst-Swanger and Petcosky, 2003).
Thurman was awarded $2.3 million in damages but eventually settled for $1.9
million when the city agreed to forgo an appeal. The lawsuit led to a national reform of
domestic violence laws, including the "Thurman Law" (The Family Violence Prevention
and Response Act) instituted in Connecticut in 1986, which mandates police to make
arrests in domestic violence cases even if the victim does not wish to press charges.
After this case, Peterson said local law enforcement agencies contacted her and
other advocates in Los Angeles to ask what they could do and how they could prevent
outcomes like this in the future.
18
Religion and domestic violence
It was New Year's Day, 2021.
In the 911 call, Elizabeth is panicked and frantic. The operator has to ask her
twice what her emergency is.
“He just hit my daughter!”
A child sobs in the background.
A man’s voice interjects: “Who did not apologize?”
Between gasps of air, the 7-year-old responds; “I’m so sorry!”
Officers showed up at Elizabeth’s home while she filled out paperwork to obtain a
temporary restraining order.
“Police have come probably 10 times in 20 years and they’ve never cared until
my daughter got hit,” she said.
“I never mattered. I’m quite grateful they care now, but why didn’t I matter?”
19
Elizabeth approached her pastor for guidance, hoping she’d be supported.
Instead, she was told to forgive her abuser because “that is what the church teaches.”
After 20 years attending this parish, she left.
The relationship between domestic violence and religion is complex. The Roman
Catholic Church has stated that violence against women is not acceptable, yet many
women have been told by their priests to forgive their abusers. Advocates believe the
issues around domestic violence need to be taught in seminaries to close the gap on
what is practiced versus what is preached.
Over the last few decades, organizations dedicated to addressing this problem in
faith-based communities have emerged both regionally and nationally. Catholics for
Family Peace is a domestic violence education and research initiative. Executive
Director Sharon O'Brien said when the group started over 10 years ago, she only knew
of two dioceses that were doing something about this issue. Now, Catholics for Family
Peace has 30 partners across the country which educate parishioners about domestic
violence.
“It takes courage to speak out about these things,” she said.
20
In 2010, O’Brien was part of a working group to address how Catholics could
understand domestic violence. The result was a document titled “When I Call For Help:
A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women”. The document states that
domestic violence is never justified and that “the person being assaulted needs to know
that acting to end the abuse does not violate the marriage promises.”
Remaining in abusive marriages because they were performed in the Catholic
Church was something Bernita Walker kept hearing from women while working as a
domestic violence advocate in South Los Angeles. It became the reason she founded
the Religion and Domestic Violence committee at the Domestic Violence Council of Los
Angeles.
“The congregation members don't understand that until death do us part does not
mean until one person kills the other,” she said. “So many women were being held
captive in a sense by not only their abusers but their pastors.”
Walker provides training to faith leaders from all religions on how to recognize the
signs of domestic violence and how best to speak about abuse to parishioners. Most of
the pastors Walker has trained tell her they had no idea this kind of abuse was occurring
in their places of worship.
21
Domestic violence training is something that advocates like Walker and O’Brien
believe should be mandated for anyone in a faith leadership role. Both agreed it should
be part of the curriculum at seminary; a graduate school that prepares students for the
ministry. To their knowledge, domestic violence training is not taught in many of these
institutions.
In the research paper When Violence Hits the Religious Home: Raising
Awareness about Domestic Violence in Seminaries and amongst Religious Leaders,
authors Steve McMullin, Nancy Nason-Clark, Barbara Fisher-Townsend and Catherine
Holtmann looked into the teaching of domestic violence classes in a seminary or
religious context, as well as the ongoing professional education of religious leaders,
such as pastors.
They found that even though instruction that addresses domestic violence has
become increasingly common in university curricula, teaching about domestic violence
continues to be inadequately provided to most of the more than 70,000 current and
future religious leaders who are enrolled as students in accredited theological
seminaries in North America.
McMullin said while conducting research for this paper, his colleagues heard from
administrators that they needed help in this area.
22
“I remember one meeting at a seminary, sitting down with the administrators and
them saying, ‘We know this is a problem because of reports we're hearing about our
graduates making mistakes in this area,’” he said.
A few challenges facing seminaries are mandating domestic violence training into
the curriculum and hiring faculty who are well-versed on this subject matter. McMullin
said there’s been progress in religious communities, but there is still much to do.
“It's not that churches are that late to the table, it's just that it has taken a while
for churches to realize their role in responding, and that's not been easy,” he said.
For a number of women, the first person they disclose their abuse to is their
pastor. If a pastor doesn’t respond appropriately, it’s likely the survivor will not seek help
again for a long period of time.
While Pope Francis has denounced the “shameful ill-treatment” of women, he’s
also acknowledged that priests have been ill-equipped to handle these issues,
"especially in light of particular emergency situations arising from cases of domestic
violence and sexual abuse". This is why it is so important for seminarians to receive
instruction as part of their preparation for pastoral ministry.
Elizabeth knows she was lucky to get out of her relationship when she did.
Before committing to a new church, she told her priest that she couldn’t forgive her
23
estranged husband for the abuse he committed. The pastor’s response was that she
didn’t need to forgive him and instead should instead focus on her healing.
“I thought, wow, that was powerful because I didn't get that kind of message at all
at our church of 20 plus years,” she said.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence
Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.
24
Bibliography: Sources
Batten, Elizabeth, Gist, Julia, Hall, Iva, Malecha, Ann, McFarlane, Judith, Smith, Sheila
and Kathy Watson. “Protection Orders and Intimate Partner Violence: An 18-Month
Study of 150 Black, Hispanic, and White Women”, American Journal of Public Health,
2004.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210309191814/https:/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC1448307/.
“‘I am tired of hearing about it’ A changed man, living a quiet, suburban life in
Massachusetts”, Republican American Archives, June 9, 2008.
https://archives.rep-am.com/2008/06/09/new/
Kurst-Swanger, Karel, and Jacqueline Petcosky. Violence in the Home: Multidisciplinary
Perspectives. Oxford: University Press, 2003.
Robinson, Paul and Sarah Robinson. “Tragedy, Outrage & Reform: Crimes That
Changed Our World: 1983 – Thurman Beating - Domestic Violence”, University of
Pennsylvania Law School, 2017.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2879&context=faculty_sch
olarship.
25
Appendix: Interviews
Dhawan, Pallavi. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, September 7, 2021.
Elizabeth. Anonymous. Telephone interview, California, November 2, 2021.
Martin, Bob. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, December 3, 2021.
McMullin, Steve. Telephone interview, New Brunswick, Canada, April 22, 2022.
Messenger, Alyson. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, September 17, 2021.
Neshkes, Rachelle. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, September 17, 2021.
O'Brien, Sharon. Telephone interview, Washington, D.C., March 8, 2022.
Perez, Jason. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, April 19, 2022.
Peterson, Carolann. Zoom interview, Los Angeles, California, November 12, 2021.
Saxton, Stephanie. Telephone interview, Simi Valley, California, November 3, 2021.
Sadanaga, Marie. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, September 10, 2021.
Shawna. Anonymous. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, November 9, 2021.
Waldren, Michael. Telephone interview, Los Angeles, California, September 10, 2021.
Walker, Bernita. Zoom interview, Los Angeles, California, March 1, 2022.
26

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Restraining orders in California have been granted at an increasing rate year after year. Most of these orders are domestic violence related and serve to protect those who request them. Unfortunately, a disturbing trend is taking place. In analyzing data from the Department of Justice and the Los Angeles Police Department, restraining order violations are rising. Through interviews with legal experts and domestic violence advocates, the consensus is that when these orders are violated, there is little done to hold abusers accountable. Advocates want to see law enforcement engage in more training so they are properly versed in reading these order violations. While officers acknowledge there is a gap in training, they also say the law limits their actions when an order is violated. The result is that survivors of domestic violence live in fear that their abusers will continue to flout the law and put them in serious harm.
This thesis focuses on what needs to change in order to protect those most vulnerable through interviews with people at the center of this issue.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Zavarise, Isabella (author)

Core Title Abusers often ignore restraining orders

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Specialized Journalism)

Degree Conferral Date 2022-08

Publication Date 07/13/2022

Defense Date 08/09/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag abusers,domestic violence,domestic violence restraining orders,OAI-PMH Harvest,restraining orders,survivors

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Winston, Diane (committee chair), Kahn, Gabriel (committee member), Peterson, CarolAnn (committee member)

Creator Email isabella.zavarise@gmail.com,zavarise@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111371071

Unique identifier UC111371071

Legacy Identifier etd-ZavariseIs-10828

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Zavarise, Isabella

Type texts

Source 20220713-usctheses-batch-952 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu