Protective Order Reforms (1970s-1980s)
Until the late 1970s, a woman could not obtain a restraining order against an abusive spouse without simultaneously filing for divorce. Feminist advocates and the emerging battered women's movement pushed state legislatures to reform protective order laws, enabling emergency relief that included no-contact provisions and economic support. By 1980, 47 states had passed domestic violence legislation mandating changes to protection orders.
Survivors gained access to emergency restraining orders without being forced to end their marriages, and some economic relief became available through court orders.
These reforms established the framework for treating domestic violence as a distinct legal category requiring specialized remedies, laying groundwork for the Violence Against Women Act in 1994.
Coerced debt laws represent a similar expansion of survivor protections into a previously unaddressed domain—this time targeting economic abuse rather than physical safety. Like 1970s protective order reforms, these laws recognize that existing legal frameworks left survivors without meaningful recourse.