SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Protecting all women from domestic violence is the goal of a new bill gaining ground at the Utah State Capitol. House Bill 50, Dating Violence Prevention Act, was seen before a judiciary meeting Wednesday.
University of Utah student Whitney Norton has been gathering signatures in an effort to encourage lawmakers to pass the bill.
“Currently in order to receive a protective order a victim of violence has to be living with, have a child with, or married to the abuser,” explained Norton.
That’s what HB 50 is looking to change. The bill has been around for more than a decade, in different versions, but has never become law. Norton and other supporters of the new bill say HB 50 has what it takes to pass and protect those victims of abuse who for years have just fallen through the legal gaps.
HB 50 could be voted on as early as the end of this week.
