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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? 

We added information to multiple questions in our Rhode Island State Gun Laws section based on changes to the law that increased the reasons why an abuser can be prohibited from possessing a gun.

Based on a change to Rhode Island law, we added information to the questions How can a restraining order help me? and If the abuser’s gun is taken away as part of my restraining order, what will happen to it? about the surrender of firearms and the right to request a hearing to seek that his/her firearms be returned.

On our Oklahoma Domestic Violence Protective Orders page, we added information about how an ex parte order of protection can help victims in the question How can a protective order help me?  We also added information to that question (based on an addition to Oklahoma law) about the judge being able to transfer a wireless account to a victim.  All changes made in English - Spanish soon to come!

We added Spanish translations to the Massachusetts Legal Assistance page. 

We added Spanish translations to the Massachusetts Statewide Programs page. 

We translated into Spanish our new section on Firearms Seizure Law in the Connecticut State Gun Laws page.

We added Spanish translations to the Oregon Lawyer Referral Services page. 

We added Spanish translations to the Georgia Lawyer Referral Services page. 

We added Spanish translations to the Washington Statewide Programs page. 

We added The Dove Project to the Washington Local Programs page in English. Spanish coming soon! 

We added Spanish translations to the Connecticut Courthouse Locations page. 

We added Spanish translations to the Connecticut Lawyer Referral Services page. 

In response to an Email Hotline inquiry, we added the crimes of custodial interference in the 1^st and 2^nd degrees to the Hawaii Crimes page and Selected Hawaii Statutes page.

We added the crime of sexual assault in the 3^rd degree to our Wyoming Crimes page and Selected Wyoming Statutes page.

We reorganized the Virgin Islands Custody page, combining some sub-categories and clarifying some information to make it easier to read.

We updated our Virginia Custody page in English and Spanish based on changes to Virginia law that introduced the alternative term “parenting time” and that clarified the residency requirement for fee waivers.

We updated the links to information from outside sources on our Utah Custody page and Utah Divorce page.

We updated our Utah Suing an Abuser page to reflect a 2017 change in the law that increased the maximum small claims amount from $10,000 to $11,000. 

We translated into Spanish the information on our Sexual Assault/Rape page called “I am not ready to report the assault now but I may be ready in the future. What do I need to know?”

In our Texas Family Violence Protective Orders section, we added information to the question What is a magistrate’s order for emergency protection? How long does it last? about the victim not needing to be present to request the order. All changes made in English and Spanish.

We translated into Spanish our updated New Mexico Download Court Forms page. 

We reorganized our Filing Appeals section and added information in English to help explain Grounds for an appeal. Spanish coming soon!

We updated all of the links and information on our Delaware Court Forms page.

Based on a change in the law about under what circumstances a judge can refuse to accept a mediated order, we added information in English and Spanish to the question What is mediation? in our Texas Custody page.  

We added an Iowa Sexual Abuse Restraining Order page. You can find the corresponding statutes on the Selected Iowa Statutes page.

Based on a law that was recently enacted, we added information to the question Can I keep my personal information confidential? in our Texas Family Violence Protective Orders section in English (Spanish soon to come!). We also added the relevant statute to our Selected Texas Statutes page in English.

On our South Carolina Orders of Protection page, we added information to the question How can an order of protection help me? about what language is necessary in an order so that firearm possession is illegal.

We added a new section in English to our Washington Custody page called When the parent –or someone who lives with the parent– is abusive. In that section we took complex information that was previously in one question and re-wrote it, breaking it up into five questions, to make it more understandable.  Spanish soon to come!  We also added a related statute to our Selected Washington Statutes page.

Based on an Email Hotline inquiry, we added a new crime to our West Virginia Crimes page and the related statute to our Selected West Virginia Statutes page. 

We added eight new crimes related to assault, domestic violence, and criminal sexual conduct to our South Carolina Crimes page and the eight related statutes to our Selected South Carolina Statutes page.