Officials say Ohio’s laws on domestic violence are outdated.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.
Democratic Representatives Emilia Sykes and Christie Kuhns say 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.
