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Plan to Protect Victims of Abuse in Serious Dating Relationships

Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron)
Andy Chow
Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron)

Officials say Ohio’s laws on domestic violence are outdated. As Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports -- they have an idea to bring the state in step with modern day relationships.

Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron)
Credit Andy Chow
Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron)

Democratic Representatives Emilia Sykes and ChristieKuhnssay partner violence can happen at any stage of a relationship. But Ohio law only provides civil protection orders for victims if their attacker was a spouse, family member, someone they lived with or someone they shared a child with.

Sykes says that list does not include people in a serious dating relationship.

“This leaves people who are in substantial, ongoing, intimate and romantic relationships out of protections that they should also be afforded to them for their personal well-being and safety,” said Sykes.

Their bill includes a definition of a serious dating relationship used by Florida when it modernized its laws.

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.