FVAP

FVAP Advisory Board member, Professor Mindy Mechanic, and Staff Attorney, Cory Hernandez, will be presenting a training on June 3 called Domestic Abuse is More than Physical Violence: Examining the Role of Coercive Control. This training will focus on recently enacted Senate Bill 1141, which clarified the definition of “domestic violence” for getting a restraining order and for deciding child custody matters. Now the definition expressly includes coercive control as a form of domestic violence, which further clarifies how
nonphysical forms of harm can constitute abuse under the law.

Please note this training is not open to the public, and any court staff interested in attending should speak with their supervisors.

FVAP is honored to have been asked by the Judicial Council to train court staff.

In an interview last week, FVAP’s Legal Director Nancy K.D. Lemon shared with KQED reporters why former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ restrictions on asylum for survivors of domestic violence threaten women’s rights. In 2018, Sessions refused to provide asylum to a survivor of domestic violence from El Salvador who had been abused by her ex-husband for over a decade, deciding that domestic violence is a private or personal crime and not a qualifying reason for asylum. However, violence against women is a deep-rooted societal problem that demands government intervention, and it’s common for survivors to come to the U.S. seeking refuge from abuse because law enforcement in their home country would not provide help. In fact, FVAP is currently representing a survivor of domestic violence who faced this same barrier to safety before coming to the U.S. We are hopeful that the new administration will loosen the current restrictions so that survivors fleeing abuse can get the safety and justice they deserve. Read more in KQED’s article here.