The Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights today won an important victory for a victim of domestic violence in Philadelphia. The Center successfully fought the imposition of mutual protection orders against both the victim and abuser.
Courts have a tendency to issue mutual protection orders in cases of same-sex domestic violence.
We got involved in this case in order to make sure that a mutual order was not issued. The Center opposed B's request, arguing A was the victim and B was the aggressor. The Judge initially said that she was going to issue an order to require both parties to stay away from each other. The Center has identified a trend by the Philadelphia Police to arrest both partners in cases of same-sex domestic violence rather than making a determination as to who is the aggressor and who is the victim. Because of police response, there are many victims of domestic violence who find themselves having to defend against criminal charges.