Bill That Protects Domestic Violence Victims Passes House

COLUMBUS – State Representative Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) announced today the House passage of House Bill 3, or Aisha’s Law, which provides further protections for victims of domestic violence.

Aisha’s Law was introduced after Aisha Fraser was repeatedly abused and eventually killed by her ex-husband in front of their small children.

“This bill is a huge step forward in ensuring that victims of domestic violence have the protections they need and are provided the tools to feel safe when it seems like all is lost,” said Carruthers. “As a joint sponsor of the bill, I am incredibly proud of the passage of Aisha’s Law.”

Some provisions of the bill include:

• Allows law enforcement, with the consent of a domestic violence victim, to request an emergency protection order from a judge anytime the court is not open for regular business;
• Requires the court to issue an emergency protection order if there is probable cause to believe that the victim is in immediate danger based on allegations of recent domestic violence incidents;
• Expands the offense of domestic violence to include strangulation;
• Makes an individual eligible for a charge of aggravated murder if the victim was a prior victim of domestic violence at the hand of the perpetrator;
• Requires high risk victims of domestic violence to be referred to local or regional domestic violence advocacy services;
• Provides funds for the training of law enforcement to use the newly mandated domestic violence risk assessment tool, which will evaluate both an offender’s risk of re-offending and a victim’s risk of lethal assault;
• Creates a study committee on the prosecution of domestic violence cases

Sponsored by Carruthers and State Representative Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights), the bipartisan bill passed the House 94-0.

“Representative Boyd and I worked very hard on this bill,” said Carruthers. “This is just the beginning and there is more to be done on this issue. I look forward to working on more legislation with Representative Boyd in the future.”

In 2018, the Ohio Attorney General reported that there were a staggering 38,475 domestic violence incident (DVI) charges in the state of Ohio. Of those charges, 1,112 were in Butler County alone.

It has also been reported that there has been a dramatic increase in DVI cases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aisha’s Law now heads to the Senate.

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For more information, contact Rep. Carruthers’s office at (614)-644-6721 or rep51@ohiohouse.gov.