Starting in July, Florida will have significantly stronger safeguards on its books for victims of domestic and dating abuse.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation (HB 277) to hike punishments for repeat domestic violence offenders, improve the state’s protective policies and test the efficacy of electronic monitoring in deterring future crimes.
The measure, which passed unanimously in both chambers of the Legislature this year, was the passion project of Lake Worth Beach Democratic Rep. Debra Tendrich, a domestic violence survivor.
Placida Republican Rep. Danny Nix served as the co-prime sponsor for HB 277. Miami Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud sponsored its upper-chamber companion (SB 682).
Tendrich — who spoke repeatedly during the bill’s progression about how she fled to Florida in 2012 with nothing but her daughter, two changes of clothing and $15 — compared living with domestic violence to being held at gunpoint, as victims must calculate every step for fear that the proverbial trigger will be pulled.
“Living in fear does more than cause pain; it slowly erodes freedoms that every American is supposed to have — the rights to live, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she said. “Yet, for victims of domestic violence, those rights are taken away behind closed doors.”
HB 277 is one of two major proposals lawmakers approved this past Session to address the issue.
The new law, effective July 1, enhances penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders, hiking violation classifications by one degree. It increases Florida’s victim-relocation allowance from $1,500 to $2,500, which Tendrich said reflects “the real cost of relocating safely in our state.”
It also allows threats and cruelty to pets and service animals to be included in protective injunctions.
The measure strengthens coordination around military protective orders by allowing them to be considered when civilian injunctions are sought, while improving communication between civilian and military law enforcement when violations are suspected.
HB 277 also creates a pilot program in Pinellas County enabling courts to order electronic monitoring for certain offenders on probation who pose a threat to victims, with the goal of creating a statewide program in the future.
A related measure (SB 298) by Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman of Boca Raton and Tamarac Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood, awaits DeSantis’ signature after passing with similarly uniform approval in March.
That legislation would create a new 911 alert system for abuse victims. Republican Reps. Peggy Gossett-Seidman of Highland Beach and Rachel Plakon of Lake Mary supported a similar House measure.
Every year in Florida, nearly 107,000 cases of domestic violence are reported, Department of Children and Families data shows. And according to the Center for Relationship Abuse Awareness, 75% of domestic violence-related homicides occur after separation, meaning victims are most at risk of severe harm after they leave their abuser.
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, meanwhile, estimates that 38% of Florida women and 29% of Florida men experience intimate-partner violence in their lifetimes — among the highest rates in the country.
A four-year study of domestic violence found that while the issue is growing in prevalence, its true scale is even greater than reporting shows, since many of the victims — of whom 80% are women — don’t come forward.
“Every time I open the newspaper and read about something like that, I get so frustrated. So, I am so glad to see this bill,” Berman said ahead of HB 277’s passage on the Senate floor. “It has a lot of really good things that will hopefully start to reverse the trend in the state of Florida and nationwide. We are not unique in this trend.”
Osgood called HB 277 “critically important,” adding that there needs to be a greater focus on the prevalence of dating violence among youths.
“We normally hear about these stories when it’s a husband and a wife and somebody with kids, but this is a real issue that happens to a lot of people, particularly women on the high school level, and they don’t talk to anyone about it. They don’t share,” she said.
“This bill gives a legal way out, a legal way to address it. It allows a victim to feel more protected, that there is something they can do other than just bear the shame and the terror that’s oftentimes inflicted upon people that find themselves in this situation.”
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