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In Delaware, we revised the section called Steps to get an order of protection from abuse. We also added information about a judge being able to question a child based on a 2017 change to the law to Step 4: The hearing. (We regret the delay in adding this 2017 information.)

We added an Extreme Risk Protection Orders page in our Massachusetts Restraining Orders section in English - Spanish coming soon!  We also added three related statutes to our Selected Massachusetts Statutes page.

In Arizona, we added information in English and Spanish to the question In which county can I file for an order of protection? to explain that if a child is included as a protected party, the petitioner may be referred to the superior court.

We created a Missouri State Gun Laws section in English to explain the gun laws in Missouri relating to domestic violence, orders of protection, and crimes. We also added six related statutes to the Selected Missouri Statutes section. 

We made new changes to the information and resources for LGBTQIA Victims in English based on feedback from the National LGBTQ Task Force. Thank you to the Task Force for their assistance! Spanish coming soon!

We translated into Spanish the newly added District of Columbia Workplace Protections page.

We updated links to outside sources in Spanish and English on our Florida Crimes page.

We translated two resources into Spanish and one resource into English in our Connecticut Legal Assistance page.

We translated into Spanish the reviewed information for the Virginia Statewide Hotline under the Virginia Statewide Programs.

We translated into Spanish ten (10) Local Programs in Texas and seven (7) programs that provide Legal Services for Battered Immigrant Women.

In Montana, we updated the links to outside sources on our Custody, Divorce, and Crimes pages.

We updated our Arizona Housing Laws section based on a change to the law that includes sexual assault victims as protected tenants. We also divided up the information that we had (going from two questions to three) in order to make it easier to read. All changes made in English and Spanish.

We added a District of Columbia Workplace Protections page in English and 3 corresponding statutes to the Selected District of Columbia Statutes page. Spanish translation coming soon!

We updated the Divorce information in Guam, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements, and added 18 related statutes to our Selected Guam Statutes page.

We updated our Oregon State Gun Laws section in English, adding state-specific information to existing questions and reorganizing the entire section to make the information more accessible. We also added five related statutes to the Oregon Selected Statutes section. 

We updated the Divorce information in West Virginia, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements, and added 11 related statutes to our Selected West Virginia Statutes page.

We translated into Spanish the Virginia Download Court Forms page. 

We updated all of our information and resources for LGBTQIA Victims in English – Spanish coming soon!

We updated our Oklahoma State Gun Laws section in English, adding state-specific information to existing questions and reorganizing the entire section to make the information more accessible. We also added three related statutes to the Oklahoma Selected Statutes section. 

We added a new section to our Wisconsin Custody page called Relocating with your child. In that section, we created three new questions and completely re-wrote a fourth question. We also added a new question called What restrictions are in place while a custody case is pending? and we added the related statute to our Selected Wisconsin Statutes page.

In our Wisconsin Child Abuse Restraining Orders page, we updated the information in What is the legal definition of child abuse in Wisconsin? to add child trafficking to the definition of child abuse. This change was effective in the law in 2017. We regret the delay in adding this.

We translated into Spanish all of our updated information on our Jewish Get Law (Divorce Law) page.

We translated into Spanish the Washington Download Court Forms page

We updated our Massachusetts State Gun Laws section in English, adding state-specific information to existing questions and reorganizing the entire section to make the information more accessible. We also added a related statute to the Massachusetts Selected Statutes section. 

We added a new resource in our Colorado Legal Assistance page called Bringing Home Justice, where qualified victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and others can receive free (pro bono) representation for civil legal issues. The information is provided both in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our newly added Documenting/Saving Evidence page in our Abuse Using Technology section.

We translated into Spanish our updated Divorce information in Arkansas, which added information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements. 

We translated into Spanish our newly added Personal Jurisdiction section. This section explains what personal jurisdiction is and why it would be important to someone when the abuser lives in a different state.

Based on changes to Virginia law, we added information about protections regarding a victim’s cell phone to the questions How can a preliminary protective order help me? and How can a (final) protective order help me? Changes made in English and Spanish. 

We updated the Divorce information in Wisconsin, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements, and added three related statutes to our Selected Wisconsin Statutes page.

On our Illinois Stalking No Contact Orders page, we added the question What can I do if the abuser violates the order? about the possible penalties for violating the order. Spanish translation coming soon!

We reorganized our Legal Definitions page in the Court System Basics section in English and Spanish, and added a quick navigation bar so that legal terms are easier to locate. 

Based on additions to Utah law, we created a new question called Can two people have protective orders against each other (mutual orders)? in our Protective Orders due to Domestic Violence/Abuse section.

We created a note on our Asylum page in Immigration in English and Spanish to add the following information based on new federal guidance:

“Note: Foreign victims of sexual abuse may qualify for asylum status if their abuse was related to any of the five protected grounds listed above under asylum law. However, for victims of domestic violence or sexual violence committed by an intimate partner, it may not be possible to get asylum based on the abuse. In 2018, the federal government overturned critical protections for domestic violence survivors seeking asylum and restricted the ability of domestic violence survivors fleeing abuse to get asylum.  These restrictions prevent judges from making case-by-case decisions on the merits of an individual victim’s claim.  We recommend contacting a knowledgeable immigration attorney who has experience working on asylum before applying for any claim.”

On our Illinois Civil No Contact Orders page, we added information to the question What can I do if the abuser violates the order? about the possible penalties for violating the order. Spanish translation coming soon!

In our Wyoming Domestic Violence Orders of Protection page, we added the information about ex parte temporary orders and re-wrote the information about final protection orders in the question How can a domestic violence order of protection help me?

We translated into Spanish our updated Privacy Policy. Check it out to see how WomensLaw protects the privacy of our users!

We translated into Spanish all of our updated information and resources for Abuse Among People Living with HIV/AIDS.

We recently uploaded our new video blog series about divorce. These videos are recorded in Spanish, with English captioning, and they include all the basic information on the divorce process. The videos include: 1. What are the requirements for a divorce? 2. What documents do I need to file and how do I legally notify my spouse? and 3. What does the divorce process look like and what should you consider if you are a domestic violence survivor?

We created a new North Dakota Sexual Assault Restraining Orders page in the Restraining Orders section and added 3 corresponding statutes to the Selected North Dakota Statutes page.

We updated the Divorce information in Utah, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements, and added two related statutes to our Selected Utah Statutes page.

We updated our Maryland State Gun Laws section in English, adding state-specific information to existing questions and reorganizing the entire section to make the information more accessible. We also added two related statutes to the Maryland Selected Statutes section.

We added 14 statutes related to Divorce in South Dakota to the Selected South Dakota Statutes page.

We added 3 statutes related to Divorce in Hawaii to the Selected Hawaii Statutes page.

We updated the Divorce information in Missouri, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements.

We updated the Divorce information in South Dakota, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements.

We made changes and added information to our California Workplace Protections page in English to reflect changes in the law. Spanish translation coming soon!

We added a new question to the Restraining Orders section in 26 states (including 11 states in Spanish) called If I don’t have a hard copy of my out-of-state order, how can law enforcement enforce it? The rest of the states will soon be added! 

Based on a 2018 addition to the law, we added information to two questions in our California Custody page about a parent being able to request mediation prior to filing a custody petition in court. All changes made in Spanish and English.

We translated into Spanish our Starting a Court Case page. On this page we explain how someone can start the court process by filing the necessary documents and serving the other parties involved.

We translated into Spanish the Digital Evidence page in our Abuse Using Technology section.

We added the crime of sexual extortion to the Alabama Crimes page.

We translated into Spanish our section in the Texas Custody page called What rights a parent can get when s/he committed domestic violence or sexual assault.

We added the crime of voyeurism to our Arizona Crimes page in English (Spanish translation coming soon) and the related statutes to our Selected Arizona Statutes page in English.

We added Spanish translations to all resources on the Oregon Local Programs page. 

We added Spanish translations to all resources on the Oregon Legal Assistance page. 

 We added Spanish translations to all resources on the Pennsylvania Statewide Programs page.

To improve the experience for our readers, we changed the way we cite the laws throughout the website. Instead of using asterisks, we now use footnotes. 

We updated the Divorce information in Idaho, adding information on residency, grounds and alimony requirements. 

We updated all of our information and resources for Abuse Among People Living with HIV/AIDS in English – Spanish coming soon!

We translated into Spanish the information added to the question Can I keep my personal information confidential? in our Texas Family Violence Protective Orders section, which was based on a recently-enacted law. 

We added 10 new resources to the Texas Local Programs page in English. Spanish Coming soon! 

In Texas, we added information to the question What is mediation? in our Custody page regarding the required family violence training for mediators. All changes made in English and Spanish.  We also added the related statute to our Selected Texas Statutes page.

We added an Extreme Risk Protection Orders page in our Vermont Restraining Orders section.

We added the crime of interception of oral communications to our Maine Crimes page and our Selected Maine Statutes page.

We added a new Illinois Housing Laws section. In this section, we added eight new questions explaining the housing protections in place for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and stalking in Illinois. You can find the corresponding statues in the Selected Illinois Statutes section. All changes made in English - Spanish soon to come!

We updated various questions on our Rhode Island Domestic Violence Restraining Orders page to reflect the new law that allow victims of sexual exploitation to get a restraining order. We also added questions called What is the legal definition of sexual exploitation? and Can a minor file for a restraining order?