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Timed to coincide with national Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the video explains how a hospital or safe worker makes the connection and stays with victims throughout the process. It’s a huge benefit, considering how intimidated victims can become by having to go to a courthouse or the logistical problems it presents.
“They’re with us, we’re with them. It’s safe, it’s quiet,” Jessica Abreu, a shelter supervisor at the Passaic County Women’s Center, says in the video. “They don’t have to see the perpetrator.”
They’ll even call the police or take other steps to get victims home safely.
One woman was particularly frightened because her husband was an area cab driver, but she “got some power back” through a televised TRO, Abreu recalled with a smile. Another had five babies and needed an interpreter, she said. The women couldn’t possibly have gone to court.
The 10-minute video also includes interviews with a judge and a hospital staff member, as well as a dramatization of how the system allows a victim to speak with the judge through the video hookup:
Victims often “do not have the time, the transportation, the childcare, or even the psychological strength or emotional empowerment to get themselves down to the courthouse to follow through on gaining a TRO,” Judge Glenn A. Grant, the acting administrative director of the courts.
Under the program, they can receive treatment, protection and support from hospital or shelter staff during what can be an extremely emotional process. Interpreting services are also provided — the same as for regular hearings.
The judge’s order can then be faxed directly to the victim at the hospital or safe house.
What’s more, the judge or court staff member gives the victim with additional information about the court process and other available resources.
A date is also set for the victim to appear in court to obtain a final restraining order.
Judges have praised the NJ Hospital/Safe House to Court program, which is funded through the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and is administered by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice within the state Department of Law and Public Safety.
New Jersey’s Prevention of Domestic Violence Act permits all victims of domestic violence to obtain a restraining order to protect them from further harm. An abuser can be a spouse, former spouse or the co-parent of a child.
Victims are protected if they are living with or have lived with the abuser or if they are dating or have dated the abuser.
They have their choice of a number of jurisdictions to choose from: They can apply for a TRO in the county where the domestic violance occurred or in the county where the defendant lives, where the victim lives or where the victim is temporarily staying.
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