What is Domestic Violence?
Domestic violence is serious abuse and anyone who is a victim of domestic violence should seek legal help immediately from a Boca Raton domestic violence lawyer.
Florida Statute 741.28 defines domestic violence as actions where one household member does any of the following to another household member:
- Assault
- Aggravated assault
- Battery
- Aggravated battery
- Sexual assault
- Sexual battery
- Stalking
- Aggravated stalking
- Kidnapping
- False imprisonment
- Any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death
By a household family member, the statute refers to spouses, former spouses, persons related by blood or marriage, persons living together as a family or parents with a child in common.
According to U.S. statistics reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, between 1993 and 2001, an intimate partner killed approximately 33 percent of female murder victims and four percent of male murder victims. Of all females killed by firearms, two-thirds were killed by their intimate partners. Victims must take legal action before a domestic violence situation escalates into more violent abuse. Understanding what domestic violence is and how extreme it can become, helps you put the need for legal help into perspective. A family law attorney can provide you with resources for safe shelter and obtain a Palm Beach County restraining order. A restraining order, also called an injunction, can prohibit an abuser from contacting or approaching you and can order the individual to leave your home or pay temporary child support. Violations can result in arrest.
The Law Offices of Schwartz | White obtains injunctions and takes other legal actions on behalf of victims of domestic violence to keep them from harm.
