Pittsburgh Domestic Violence Lawyers
Divorce: Fleeing an Abusive Spouse
There are many forms of spousal abuse: mental, emotional, physical, and sexual.
If you are the victim of spousal abuse, there are actions you can take to protect yourself.
You may file a criminal complaint with your local police department and seek to press charges if you are the victims of physical or sexual abuse. Domestic abuse charges commonly include: assault, harassment, stalking, reckless endangerment, and terroristic threats.
You may also consider filing for a Protection From Abuse (PFA) order to prohibit all contact and even have the abuser evicted from the marital residence. A PFA may be obtained on grounds of physical violence, sexual violence, harassment, or stalking.
If you are suffering mental or emotional abuse, you may request a hearing for exclusive possession of the marital residence, which would enable you to stay in your home during the divorce process and prohibit your abuser from the premises.
If you need immediate shelter from an abusive partner, there are many resources available to assist you.
Spivak Law Firm provides strong, compassionate, cost-effective representation in all family law and criminal defense matters with a special focus on child custody and domestic abuse. Call us today at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Children Who Witness Domestic Abuse
Children who witness domestic abuse may have the following range of symptoms:
- Loss of appetite
- Sleep disturbance
- School problems – refuses to attend, truancy, poor performance
- Anxiety, fear of abandonment
- Increased violent behavior
- Verbal abusiveness, lying
- Regression – wanting bottle, baby talk, thumb sucking
- Perfectionism
- Shyness
- Tantrums
Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law, including: child custody, child support, divorce, Protection From Abuse (PFA) and Children Youth and Families (CYF).
To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Protecting Abuse Victims
Victims of domestic violence may obtain Protection from Abuse (PFA) Orders to curb the abuse and prohibit contact with the perpetrator.
But even obtaining a PFA may not provide adequate protection.
The Pennsylvania Legislature recently approved a resolution to examine PFA law and practice for potential insufficiencies.
The commission will work closely with professionals experienced with PFAs to identify and remedy flaws to more adequately protect victims of domestic abuse.
To speak with an experienced PFA attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Resources For Domestic Violence Victims
Are you or a loved one a victim of domestic violence? If so, here are some online resources for seeking assistance.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
1 Broadway, Suite B210
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 839-1852
ncadv.org/learn-more/resources
Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
P.O. Box 9024
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Administration: (412) 687-8017
24 Hour Hotline: (412) 687-8005
www.wcspittsburgh.org
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
6041 Linglestown Rd
Harrisburg, PA 17112
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
www.nrcdv.org
Spivak Law Firm provides aggressive representation for plaintiffs and defendants in domestic violence cases, including Protection From Abuse (PFA), Children Youth and Families (CYF), and criminal domestic violence.
To schedule a free consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Domestic Violence and Immigration
Under expanded federal immigration enforcement policies, immigrant women who have experienced domestic violence live in fear of deportation.
Forty-five states have statutes that encourage medical professionals to report certain injuries to law enforcement, and some states specifically require them to report domestic violence.
As a result, many of these women are afraid to get medical attention or seek help from law enforcement for danger of being deported.
Immigrant women and girls are statistically twice as likely as non-immigrant females to experience domestic violence, according to the Tahirih Justice Center.
Spivak Law Firm helps victims of domestic violence get the legal protections they need at Protection From Abuse (PFA) hearings and by working with prosecutors on criminal domestic-violence cases.
To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
PFA: Economic Abuse
Physical injury and mental trauma often go hand in hand with domestic violence, but economic abuse is also “present in 98 percent of abusive relationships,” according to National Network to End Domestic Violence.
“Money is our society’s most concrete form of power,” wrote Sady Doyle in The Nation. “Women are kept captive to male violence because they can’t afford to live without the men who hurt them.”
Rather than viewing domestic violence as a women’s issue, Doyle recommends viewing domestic violence as an economic issue: “When we include gender in our economic understanding, our policy stops being a sort of generalized ‘uplift’ and starts providing specific and targeted aid.”
Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law, including: divorce, child custody, child support, and PFA hearings.
To speak with an experienced family law attorney, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
In The News: Spivak Law Firm
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has once again featured Spivak Law Firm on issues involving family law and criminal defense.
The P-G recently published Attorneys Need More Protection, written by attorney Todd Spivak, a two-time nominee of The Pulitzer Prize who focuses his practice on child custody and domestic abuse.
The Post-Gazette routinely features Spivak Law Firm, publishing several articles regarding child custody, Protection From Abuse (PFA), and criminal-record expungement laws in Pennsylvania.
In Attorneys Need More Protection, Attorney Spivak discusses the Constitutional basis for vigorously defending people accused of committing heinous crimes.
In Clean The Slate In Pennsylvania, Attorney Spivak and Attorney Rebecca Canterbury critique a new Pennsylvania law that for the first time seals criminal information from public view for people convicted of second- and third-degree misdemeanors.
In Impoverished Parents Deserve Their Day In Court, Attorney Canterbury reveals how exorbitant filing fees in Allegheny County prevent low-income parents from asserting their child-custody rights.
In Crack Down on Domestic Violence in Allegheny County, Attorney Spivak recommends that only specialized judges with extensive domestic-violence training oversee PFA hearings.
In Improve Pennsylvania’s Domestic-Abuse Law, Attorney Spivak exposes the issue of bogus PFA orders and recommends ways to curb abuses in the system.
In Child Custody for Rapists, Attorney Spivak explains how sexual predators use family court to harass and intimidate their victims.
Spivak Law Firm provides strong, compassionate, cost-effective representation in all family law and criminal defense matters. To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.
Domestic Violence Increases Wage Gap
Men make more money than women over the course of their lifetimes due in part to the disparate number of domestic violence incidents committed against women, according to a recent report from McKinsey and Company.
Women who suffer violence often miss work, become less productive, and lose their jobs or get picked over for a promotion.
The domestic violence perpetrator may further disrupt her work and embarrass her by calling repeatedly and showing up to make a scene.
Such behaviors have further increased the wage gap between men and women, the report states.
Spivak Law Firm handles all areas of family law and criminal defense with a focus on domestic violence and child custody. To schedule a consultation, call Spivak Law Firm at (412) 344-4900 or toll free at (800) 545-9390.