Policy Updates

The 81st Texas Legislative Session brought several wins for survivors of domestic and sexual violence! Below are highlights from this Session. For more information, please visit the Texas Council on Family Violence www.tcfv.org  and the Texas Association of Sexual Assault www.taasa.org.     

Victories of Survivors 

• Increasing the penalty for strangulation and suffocation to a felony
• Require family violence offenders to pay a mandatory fee to a family violence center
• Meet Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) compliance requirements by providing family violence misdemeanor defendants with notice regarding firearm possession
• Include a consideration of safety planning in international parental child abduction provisions
• Increase confidentiality for participants in Domestic Violence Fatality Reviews
• Eliminate the 60-day waiting period in dissolution of marriage suits for victims of family violence
• Expand lease termination option to victims of family violence not living with their abusers and extend
  protections to victims of sexual assault
• Allow courts to monitor family violence offenders with GPS technology
• Create an offense for serial domestic violence
• Require promulgation of rules governing facilities offering some child care

Want a more in-depth discussion of the 81st Texas Legislative Session?  

Domestic Violence Legislative Updates  http://www.tcfv.org/our-work/legislative-legal-advocacy/legislative-session

Sexual Assault Legislative Updates http://www.taasa.org/latest_news/pdfs/81stLegRecap.pdf