Introduction
Protection orders are legal measures that individuals who have survived domestic violence use to protect themselves from further abuse. They are made by the court in response to the abuser’s action as a warning or notice. The filing for an order has been made easy by the law in that an individual does not require the involvement of the police or lawyer as they are meant for the immediate safety of the victim. In most countries such as New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia, protection orders are focused on domestic and family violence. These orders are considered effective when they prevent the victim from further abuse.
Protection Orders
The effectiveness of the protection order is measured by how the abuser is not stalking, contacting, harassing, threatening, and attacking the victim. However, protection orders have proven to be ineffective in most of the reported cases. There are various cases that have shown that despite enacting the law, the victim is usually in danger as they have attracted the attention of the abuser. The abuser usually seeks a perfect chance for striking even after staying away for a given time. Since 2010, several cases have shown that the orders only worsen the situation. In 2014, Cassie Wagner, who had ended 11 years of relationship, was murdered by an ex-boyfriend (Barton, 2018). Wagner had initially filed a court record describing how the partner had frequently threatened her life. Wagner was killed 40 days after filing for a restraining order for her ex-boyfriend (Barton, 2018). This case proves there are loophole associated with the protection order as this threatens anyone who may have had the same idea to protect themselves from such violence.
Despite further action by the criminal justice system regarding the protection order, multiple cases of deaths have been rising since then. Other cases include the murder of Stephanie Goodloe in June 2016, who was shot by her ex-boyfriend in her bedroom. In 2017, Shaekeya Gay and Madonna McGuire were killed in August and December, respectively (Barton, 2018). The above cases prove that protection orders do not usually protect the victim. This is because the measure of effectiveness, such as stalking and attacking the victim, are violated.
Furthermore, the limitation of the protection order is on the willingness of the abuser to break the law. This is a challenging factor as individuals tend to hide their real intention by pretending to be friendly to the victim or even apologize for their mistakes (Gosselin, 2022). The abuser uses such concepts to make the victim comfortable, only to strike later. A significant weakness of protection orders is that they are less severe than other abusive punishments. This makes them much ineffective as the abuser usually does not consider it a serious issue (Gosselin, 2022). Hence, they seek the need to show the victim their capability of not following the set regulation. This is proven by Wagner’s case as other women filed for protection orders claiming that Wagner’s ex-boyfriend had threatened them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, protection orders are meant to protect the victims from further abuse. However, their effectiveness remains an answered question as they corroborate to aggravate the situation. This is confirmed by multiple cases where the victims lose their lives because of choosing to file the protection orders. Therefore it is essential to note that the seriousness of the punishment of the protection order has made it ineffective to protect the victim from further violence.
References
Barton, R. (2018). Do orders of protection actually shield domestic violence victims? – The Crime Report. The Crime Report. Web.
Gosselin, D. (2022). Family and intimate partner violence: Heavy Hands (6th ed.). Pearson.