Resource Library

Understanding how to support survivor's privacy, privilege, and confidentiality rights is critical to support safety and choice. This webinar, presented by the Texas Council on Family Violence and the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, will provide an overview of both federal confidentiality laws and state statutes that offer protections to survivors, including the new privilege statute just passed for survivors of sexual assault. The presenters will also discuss exceptions to the law, and the important pieces of a properly executed a release of information to ensure survivors are informed and their privilege is protected.

The most dangerous time for a domestic violence victim is the time immediately after leaving the relationship. Women are 3.6 times more likely to be killed shortly after leaving their partner, and the presence of firearms increases the lethality of the violence and expands the number of victims. Research has shown that state laws prohibiting persons subject to protection orders from possessing firearms and requiring them to surrender firearms in their possession were associated with a 14% lower rate of intimate partner firearm homicide.  Taking the steps to ensure that those who are ineligible to possess surrender their firearms could very well save a life. In this webinar, participants will learn the steps necessary for developing a firearm surrender protocol in their community. The presenters will explore all aspects of a successful protocol, from getting buy-in from the necessary criminal justice partners to procedure and paper work, including examples of protocols/procedures currently utilized by communities that are already successfully surrendering firearms.

This webinar defines Legislative Advocacy and offers a deep understanding of the Texas Legislative process in order to teach various methods of advocating.

This article focuses on Hispanic and Latino immigrant populations, and the barriers they face in domestic violence disputes, including language differences, financial dependence, and social isolation (2018).

This article discusses the risks and concerns associated with non-fatal strangulation, as well as the legal responses to strangulation by the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

The authors discuss the current state of criminal cyberstalking statutes at the state and federal levels (2013).

This study comments on the perceived effectiveness of protective orders among black, hispanic, and white women.  The results show significant decreases in threats of assault, stalking, and worksite harassment over time among all women, regardless of receipt of a protection order (2004).

This article argues that the current juvenile justice system needs to deal with teen abusers by recognizing the causes of dating violence and ending that behavior before they reach adulthood (2015).

This paper studies the problem of marital rape in a variety of countries, and examines how legal systems and political actors contribute to shaming and stigmatization in cases of rape (2016).

This bench card provides details for immigrants and what will happen to their immigration status when they file for and are issued a protective order.  It also examines penalties committed by an abuser that would lead to deportation (2013).

This article details the threats and barriers faced by battered immigrant women who are married to both U.S. citizens and immigrants. One of the most significant barriers discussed is the threat of deportation by the abuser (2000).