Policy Agenda 2010

SECURING JUSTICE FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Domestic violence and women’s pathways to prison are inextricably linked: an estimated 82% of incarcerated women in New York were severely physically and/or sexually abused as children and 75% suffered severe physical violence by an intimate partner during adulthood.

The Domestic Violence (DV) Survivors Justice Act will expand judicial discretion and permit judges to sentence DV survivors convicted of crimes committed as a result of abuse to shorter prison terms and, in some cases, alternative to incarceration programs. The bill will also allow survivors currently in prison to petition the court for resentencing and require the parole board to consider the effects of domestic violence when making release decisions.

MORE INFO:

• Survivors of Abuse in Prison fact sheet [download]

• Strength of a Woman, a documentary about incarcerated survivors of abuse [order a copy]