“Domestic violence can happen to anyone, at any time,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara (D-Rotterdam). “Victims need support from their community and deserve the resources necessary to help them get their lives back.”

Each year, roughly 450,000 incidents of domestic violence are reported in the state,ⁱ and in 2011, New York State courts issued a total of 301,021 orders of protection, of which 218,872 were required to be recorded in the United Court System’s Domestic Violence Registry.ⁱⁱ One in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and in the United States, it’s estimated that each day, three women are murdered by their intimate partner.ⁱⁱⁱ

To help combat instances of domestic violence and give support to victims, the Assembly passed a package of bills that would:

• prohibit employment discrimination against domestic violence victims (A.898);
• prohibit housing discrimination against victims of domestic violence by forbidding landlords and property sellers from denying an individual the right to purchase, rent, lease or inhabit housing (A.5387);
• make it illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she has committed a family offense by adding certain family offenses to the list of “serious offenses” for which purchasing or possessing a license for a firearm, rifle or shotgun would constitute a class A misdemeanor (A.6390);
• require orders of protection issued in family court to be interpreted into the native language of the individuals involved (A.1084);
• expose individuals or parties who fail to obey or enforce an order of protection to joint liability for all non-economic damages sought by a claimant after a fact-finding by a judge or jury (A.899);
• require hospitals to establish policies and procedures regarding domestic violence, establish ongoing training programs on domestic violence for staff and designate a hospital staff member to coordinate services to victims (A.2562); and

Santabarbara urged victims of domestic violence to take advantage of New York State resources, including:

• New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline (800) 942-6906, and (800) 942-6908 (Spanish);
• New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (518) 482-5465;
• New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence (518) 457-5800; and
• New York State Office of Victim Services (800) 247-8035.

i. www.opdv.state.ny.us/help/fss/theproblem.html#facts

ii. www.opdv.state.ny.us/statistics/nydata/2011/nys2011data.pdf

iii. www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/