Where there has been domestic violence and someone seeks appropriate restraints, both attorneys and litigants often need guidelines to ensure that victims are adequately protected and actual perpetrators are recognized by the court.
Domestic violence victims may initially fail to report abuse and later find themselves accused of violence by their batterer, often during the throes of a child custody dispute. These people are termed here as victim defendants. Victim defendants need to know how to defend themselves in court and how to cross move to the court about the violence they experienced.
