Your Legal Rights
Domestic violence is violence that occurs at home between people who know each other: husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, same-sex partners, adult relatives, and parents and their children. The violence is often in the form of physical injury, but also may be in the form of threats, isolation, emotional mistreatment or forced sex.
It is a crime for anyone to cause you physical injury or harm, even if that person is a member or former member of your family or household.
You have the right to:
- not be hurt
- ask the police to file charges against the person who hurt you
- ask the local prosecutor to file a criminal complaint against the person who hurt you
- apply for a Protective Order
A Protective Order is a legal document that may order:
- the abuser to not commit further acts of violence
- the abuser not to threaten, harass, stalk or contact you
- the abuser to leave your household
- temporary custody of the children to you
- the abuser to an domestic violence education program for offenders
Information for Immigrants and Refugees
If your husband is hurting you, you may be eligible for lawful permanent residency without his cooperation. You have the right to be free from violence in your home. If you are a resident or a legal refugee, a divorce or separation will not affect your legal status. However you should keep documents and other objects, like photos, to show that your marriage was real and not entered into for immigration purposes. If you have conditional residency and have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty, you still may be able to keep lawful immigration status. If your husband will not cooperate in removing your conditional status, you can request a waiver. If you do not have lawful permanent residency and you are married, you may qualify under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to obtain lawful permanent residency without the cooperation of your husbands. For more information about the waivers or laws, you can contact American Gateways in Austin (formerly known as Political Asylum Project of Austin) at 512-478-0546 or http://www.main.org/papa/.
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