Page 10 - MarchApril25 Report

support each other in this difficult work.
The undersigned is the liaison between the
DR Court’s DV Team and the DV Task
Force.
The Court found an office in our
building for Women Helping Women so
a WHW advocate is on site to support
Petitioners before, during, and after their
hearings. To avoid Petitioners feeling
intimidated, the Court now physically
separates Petitioners and Respondents at
opposite ends of the waiting area while
they wait for their cases to be called. We
work daily with the Sheriff’s deputies
who monitor activities in our building to
ensure everyone feels secure while they
wait.
To allow Petitioners more time to
share their experiences and explain their
need for protection, we allotted more
docket time for domestic violence hear-
ings. Also, we offer more flexibility to
them when setting their hearing times.
We have improved access to interpreters,
the online filing process, and our explana-
tion to the litigants of what to expect from
the court process.
Our DV Team also works to accept
and more seriously consider evidence
regarding coercive control and emotional
abuse. Consider the Petitioner who has
never been hit but who lives in fear because
her partner repeatedly threatens to kill
the children if she leaves the relationship.
She is a hostage in her own home expe-
riencing psychological domestic violence.
Electronic tracking — through the use of
air tags or smart phones on shared phone
plans — is another common form of coer-
cive control that may constitute domestic
violence and warrant a protection order.
Children are the most vulnerable
and helpless of victims in domestic
violence cases. Frequently, they are direct
victims of a parent’s or stepparent’s phys-
ical or sexual abuse. Other times, they
suffer psychological harm from expo-
sure to violence between adults in the
home. The child who watched her stepfa-
ther punch and strangle her mother was
deemed a victim and provided protec-
tion, even though the stepfather had never
laid a hand on the child. Our DV Team
is committed to recognizing the trauma
and life-long consequences children suffer
solely from witnessing domestic violence
in their homes.
These improvements help us to
better understand and protect those in
our community experiencing domestic
violence, ensure due process for the
accused, make comprehensive and
thoughtful decisions, and collaborate
with law enforcement to make service
of our civil protection orders safe and
efficient for all. We track our progress
partially by paying attention to the rate
of case dismissals, which are usually the
result of a Petitioner failing to appear at
the final hearing. After removing reasons
a Petitioner may not appear — being eyed
by their abuser in the waiting area, feeling
alone because no advocate was present to
support them, being discouraged by the
language barrier when no in-person inter-
preter was available that day — we have
seen a marked decline in dismissals, from
80% in 2023 to 69% in 2024, the lowest in
20 years. We want it lower, but are excited
about this progress.
We are always learning and working to
strengthen ourselves. Part of that growth
is recognizing what is working and what
isn’t. We are proud to share our accom-
plishments and successes, and promise
to continue conscientiously finding
opportunities for growth. Last October,
Commissioners Denise Driehaus, Steph-
anie Summerow Dumas, and Alicia Reece
marked October “Domestic Violence
Awareness Month” in Hamilton County.
We hope you’ll join us in wearing your
purple this October in an effort to recog-
nize and prevent domestic violence.
Victims often have no idea they are
victims, steps away from becoming survi-
vors. This is just the life they live every day.
If we talk openly about domestic violence
of all shapes, and work to dispel normal-
ization of it and shame surrounding it, we
can motivate victims to believe in them-
selves and take action. And when they
take action, we at DR Court will be here,
listening.
Tiffany Evans is a Magistrate and Mediator in
Hamilton County Domestic Relations Court. Prior
to joining the Court in 2023, she practiced exclusively
Domestic Relations Law for a decade at Keating
Muething & Klekamp PLL, where she also served
as a Parenting Coordinator and a Guardian ad
Litem representing children in several counties and
courts.
10 THE REPORT | March/April 2025 | CincyBar.org