Throughout the CEE/FSU region, victims of domestic violence turn to civil law remedies to escape abuse. Although the availability of these remedies varies by jurisdiction, orders for protection (OFPs), divorce, and tort remedies are common types of civil relief.
Many countries in the CEE/FSU region utilize a civil remedy called an order for protection (OFP) which is designed to protect the victim and temporarily remove the abuser from the home. The OFP can take the form of an emergency ex parte order. This order can be issued without notice to the defendant when there is an immediate threat to the safety of a victim or her family. An ex parte order usually lasts a short time.
Victims may also seek longer-term orders for protection. These orders require a full hearing before a court with the abuser present. In many countries an order for protection may contain provisions that allow the removal of the defendant from the home without ruling on property ownership, prohibit the defendant from further violence or from threatening to commit further violence, prohibit the defendant from contacting or going near the victim and her dependents, temporarily grant custody to the non-violent parent, provide support for a woman and her children, and prohibit the defendant from possessing or purchasing a firearm. Many women use the civil court process to obtain an order for protection instead of using the criminal court system. The United Nations Model Framework includes provisions on a civil protection orders.
Orders for protection provide important benefits to victims. A 2009 report in the US found that one half of all victims surveyed experienced no violations of the order for protection, and for those who did experience violations, the abuse was significantly reduced over time. Most victims believed it was an effective tool for their safety. The study concluded that orders for protection increase a victim’s quality of life as well, and when orders for protection are enforced, the victim’s increased safety and sense of well-being result in less costs to society as a whole. The full report may be downloaded from the National Institute of Justice website, here. (PDF)
Particularly where OFPs are unavailable, divorce remains the only avenue of relief available to battered women in many countries. Divorce, however, can be costly and difficult to obtain. Judges may require parties to participate in mediation or couples counseling, a process that can further endanger the victim. As the Family Violence Prevention Fund explains, there are a host of problems associated with mediation when domestic violence is an issue:
Mediation and couples counseling imply that both parties are responsible for the perpetrator's violent behavior, a message that blames victims and fails to hold offenders accountable for their crimes. Mediation also presumes that both parties have equal power and can negotiate a mutually agreeable settlement. Where there is domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking behavior, however, one party has controlled the other through sexual, physical, emotional and/or economic abuse. Even the most skilled mediator or therapist cannot shift the balance of power when one party has abused or assaulted the other, making mediation and joint counseling dangerous and ineffective in such cases.
From Betsy Mcalister Groves et al., Identifying and Responding to Domestic Violence: Consensus Recommendations for Child and Adolescent Health, Family Violence Prevention Fund 28 n.5 (September 2002).
Finally, because of the ways in which batterers can use child custody and visitation against their former partners, it is critical that the laws that govern child custody determinations, laws most often invoked during divorce, further the safety of both the child and the non-abusive parent.
See the 2008 United Nations expert group report entitled "Good practices in legislation on violence against women" (Section 3.10 on protection orders). For the Russian version of the recommendations of "Good practices in legislation on violence against women," click here.
For a list of research and reports on OFPs, family and tort law issues, click here.