Hb1311 vote yes

Comments Document

I am in support of House Bill 1311. We need this bill along with more legislation to protect victims of domestic abuse against perpetrators having the legal system on their side to drag and abuse their victim further with Virginia courts. I am currently entrapped in an abusive marriage. The protective order I have in place is not enough because the bullying, intimidation, and threats continue through his coercive controlling behaviors while violating court orders without consequences. He refuses to let me go amicably, has gotten in my face with his violent temper, refuses to contribute to the joint household living expenses, withholds his income and forces me to pay all the bills, has threatened to put me and my mother out of my home and have me continue to pay all the bills while he lives in the house, and has threatened to force me to pay for life insurance premiums naming him as the beneficiary for his benefit. I am in survival mode daily in an unsafe situation. Passing HB 1311 is a start to address the legal trap holding me in an abusive marriage against my will longer than I need to be. There is a lack of protection by law to recognize the many forms of domestic violence such as emotional abuse, mental abuse, psychological abuse, and financial abuse as cruelty and willful constructive desertion and abandonment. I need legal protection to get out safely NOW, not a year from now. I should not be forced to live in fear with this man another minute, not have full protection under the law from all forms of abuse, nor should I have to wait a whole year after establishing a separation date before I am granted freedom from the abuser. On your watch, please do not allow domestic violence victims to remain entrapped for a whole year to prolong the emotional, mental, physical, psychological, and financial abuse giving time for things to potentially escalate to physical injuries and/or domestic homicides.