News

Ohio lawmakers are taking steps to provide better protection for victims of domestic violence and crack down on abusers. The proposed overhaul of the state’s domestic violence laws comes in response to a four-month investigation by the Columbus Dispatch that exposed widespread “tolerance and indifference” to the crime.

In the wake of the investigation, summarized in a four-part report in the Dispatch that was published in November, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland called for legislative action. “Society must send a clear message that these behaviors are not acceptable and will not be tolerated,” Strickland told the Dispatch. “People who abuse and continue to abuse have come to assume that there will be no consequences. That needs to change. We should be looking at whatever we can to stop this terrible, terrible behavior.”

State Representative Marrian Harris is drafting legislation that would target serial abusers, improve prosecution and create programs that could help curb future violence.

The Dispatch series, “Domestic Silence,” found that the number of victims seeking protection orders in Ohio in the past nine years has nearly doubled and that even though Ohio law prefers arrests in domestic-violence cases, nearly half of the 75,000 domestic-violence runs by police end without an arrest.

In the wake of the report, a non-profit anti-violence group created a training guide to help police officers respond to reports of domestic violence.

Click here to read the series and watch victims tell their stories.