Privacy protections available to victims of domestic violence

Each year, millions of people are victimized by domestic violence. These victims are from every economic background, every ethnicity, both genders, and are both hetero- and homosexual. This is a growing problem on which California has taken a serious stand. California's domestic violence laws are among the toughest on offenders. The penalties are severe and often jeopardize one's reputation, career, family and freedom.

Domestic abuse laws apply to any intimate partners. Intimate partners include men and women who are married, divorced, living together, have children in common, and who are or were dating. The partners can be heterosexual or involved in same-sex partnerships.

When a true victim of intimate partner abuse makes the decision to leave his or her partner, physical safety becomes an even bigger concern than ever. If an abuser finds out that his or her partner and children, if any, are going to leave, the potential for serious bodily injury (and even death) are imminent. Because of that fact, emergency shelters are set up throughout the state that will allow a victim and his or her children to take temporary residence while keeping their identity confidential. The shelter locations are kept a secret from everyone except those professionals who would need to be "in the know" to help further protect the residents.

While these protections are an absolute must for true victims of intimate partner violence, they act as yet another form of abuse to those individuals who have been falsely accused of being batterers and to the accused who are also abused by their partners. Anyone who has been arrested for a domestic violence crime should immediately contact an attorney. Someone who has either been falsely accused of committing a domestic violence crime or someone who has been accused of a domestic violence crime who is also abused must immediately contact an attorney. The skilled criminal defense lawyers at The Kavinoky Law Firm have experience in handling every type of domestic abuse case and have successfully defended countless individuals, treating each with compassion, discretion and respect.

Both the falsely accused and the abusers who are also abused fall into a special category of people who are clearly hurt by the privacy protections afforded to the "victims" of domestic abuse. When an individual falsely accuses his or her partner of abuse or files a police report as an exertion of power against that partner, he or she is labeled the "victim" and the partner the "abuser." The "victim" is then able to seek shelter with the couple's children and the "abuser" has no way of finding his or her family. There are a variety of factors that may motivate the "victim" to do this including, but not limited to, power, anger or jealousy. The accused ends up feeling helpless and may end up unintentionally committing additional crimes trying to locate his or her family.

When this type of situation occurs, the best thing an individual can do is to contact an experienced domestic violence attorney to help remedy the situation. The attorneys at The Kavinoky Law Firm will ensure that the judge and jury not only hear the defendant's side of the story but believe it as well. They want to make sure that the wrongly accused aren't victimized by the criminal courts system or by their partner anymore. Please click here for a free consultation.