Civil Protection Orders
A protection order is filed in a legal forum. If granted, the protection order forbids the perpetrator within a certain distance of the victim, limits contact via phone, mail, or email. It also has property rights implications. Most states have temporary and final protection orders. A temporary protection order is granted for the time of one week, and victim must appear in court to ask for a final protection order by the end of this period. If the burden of evidence is strong enough, the judge will grant a final protection order. Approximately 1.5 million women in the U.S. reported being a victim of IPV annually. About 20% of these women obtained civil protection orders; however the effectiveness of protection orders is still unclear