Protections Against Dating Violence Sought

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Kentucky law does not allow dating couples to get domestic violence orders. They're available only to couples who are married, living together or once did, or have a child together. Domestic violence advocates will push state lawmakers again this year to include protections against dating violence in the state's domestic violence laws, but opponents have successfully argued over the years that crimes such as stalking and assault among dating partners may be addressed through existing laws, and that expanding domestic violence protection to dating partners would bog down the courts. Although 43 other states give such protections to dating couples, calls to change Kentucky's law have been rejected repeatedly by lawmakers in recent years.