Domestic violence victims at risk, protective orders not enforced kvue.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kvue.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The
Travis County District Attorney’s Office, led by
José Garza, has announced a major shift in policies and practice to better support survivors of “interpersonal violence,” including domestic abuse and sexual assault.
Announced today (Friday, Feb. 25), the new policies will go into effect immediately, though some aspects, such as a
new community advisory board, won t be finalized for another month or two. The office’s three-page announcement highlights four areas of focus: Prioritize victims; ensure access to justice for all victims; collaborate with community advocates and experts; and improve transparency. Together, the changes are “designed to ensure that victims of interpersonal violence and complex trauma know that reporting their abuse or harm will not mean they are retraumatized, ignored, or accused of not being credible,” according to the announcement.
The Texas Legal Services Center is criticizing the way the Austin school district handles sexual assault reports, after a recent Austin High School alumna says she felt blamed and silenced after she reported that a fellow student assaulted her on a school trip last year.
The teenage boy who she says assaulted her had also assaulted two other students, she said. He was not criminally charged and has since graduated, she said. I originally chose not to report it, said the now 19-year-old graduate of Austin High. But when we returned to school, I learned that the same student had assaulted someone else. So, out of concern for other students safety, I chose to report it. And from the get go, it felt like the school and staff had no idea what they were doing.