Victims who are assaulted by their spouse or domestic partner may also be simultaneously going through divorce/dissolution proceedings. Information from a divorce proceeding may also be used in a criminal or civil proceeding and vice versa. It is important that the prosecutor is informed if there is a divorce proceeding between the victim and the defendant.

Divorce proceedings can be lengthy and overwhelming for anyone, but especially for sexual assault victims who are simultaneously navigating the criminal justice process. When defendants are incarcerated during or after a criminal proceeding, victims may have difficulty properly serving divorce papers on defendants or receiving a timely response to divorce filings. Few states have laws addressing these issues.

Pennsylvania added a provision to their law that presumes a defendant has consented to a divorce when a victim files a divorce proceeding and the defendant is convicted for a personal injury crime, such as an assault or sexual offense. The Court will grant the divorce 90 days from when it was first filed.¹ While this statute assists victims in receiving their divorce, it does require that a criminal proceeding is initiated and successful, resulting in conviction of the defendant.

Defendants may also use divorce proceedings to continue to perpetrate abuse against victims. One way in which they do this is through children the victim and defendant share. Shared custody and visitation allow a defendant access to a victim. Whether through a divorce proceeding or custody order, requesting supervised visitation can provide protection for victims and reduce engagement with defendants. Additionally, if a protective order is in place, as discussed previously, having supervised visitation ensures that the protective order is not violated by parents having to meet to exchange the children, and prevents a perpetrator from using visitation as a means to continuing the abuse. Additionally, some perpetrators use custody and visitation proceedings as an intimidation tactic to scare victims into dropping criminal charges by seeking full custody without visitation for the victim.