• Utilize multiple pretrial and post-conviction strategies to develop information about possible intimate partner sexual abuse in domestic violence cases.
• Utilize all legal remedies available – from orders of protection to incarceration with treatment – to ensure victim's safety and hold offender accountable.
• Sentence defendants in intimate partner sexual abuse cases in accordance with the gravity of the crime, the unique impact on the victim, and the danger the offender poses to the community.

Orders of Protection

• Orders of protection are available in every state for domestic violence cases and in many for sexual assault alone.
• Court intake forms should include behaviorally-based questions about intimate partner sexual abuse so that orders of protection can properly address the heightened risk this type of domestic violence poses to the victim, her children and the community.
• Violations include calling, text messaging, sending flowers, or relaying messages to the victim through third parties. Such behavior is considered stalking and offenders who engage in it pose greater risk to the victim.
• Orders of protection should also contain provisions that require the defendant to continue meeting his family financial obligations such as payment of the rent or mortgage, health insurance premiums, and child support.
• Victims should not be charged as accomplices for violating orders of protection. Doing so ignores the dynamics of domestic violence and the fact that the post-separation period is the most dangerous for victims.
• Offenders should be ordered to surrender any firearms they own pursuant to the federal Violence Against Women Act.

Pretrial Release Determinations

• Employ a standardized risk assessment form that asks behaviorally-based questions about sexual abuse and assault to determine if there is intimate partner sexual abuse in a domestic violence case.
• Be aware of extant legal proceedings when a defendant appears for arraignment, including: any criminal history, outstanding warrants, probation or parole, existing orders of protection and any other court orders.
• Pretrial assessment of offenders should include review of police records where available for phrases that may be indicative of denial or minimization. The court should also require the defendant to appear personally, and remain alert to body language and demeanor during pretrial assessment that contradict an earnest assertion of innocence.
• Utilize multiple pretrial and post-conviction strategies to develop information about possible intimate partner sexual abuse in domestic violence cases.
• Utilize all legal remedies available – from orders of protection to incarceration with treatment – to ensure victim's safety and hold offender accountable.
• Sentence defendants in intimate partner sexual abuse cases in accordance with the gravity of the crime, the unique impact on the victim, and the danger the offender poses to the community.
• Post-conviction domestic abuse forensic assessment of the defendant and pre-sentence investigation should probe for intimate partner sexual abuse even if it has not been raised in court.
• If intimate partner sexual abuse emerges in post-conviction domestic abuse assessment, the court should mandate a thorough sex offender evaluation by a credentialed specialist in the field.
• Obtaining this “full picture” of the offender can help the court determine the appropriate disposition in intimate partner sexual abuse cases. Depending on the results of the assessment/investigation, the court's disposition can range from sentencing the offender to an intervention program with court supervision to incarceration with treatment.
• A post-conviction assessment for psychopathy is essential to determine if the offender is even eligible for treatment. Psychopaths do not benefit from any kind of treatment.
• Individual psychotherapy is not appropriate treatment for intimate partner sexual abuse offenders (or for other types of domestic abusers and sex offenders).
• Joint counseling is never appropriate in domestic violence or intimate partner sexual abuse cases.
• Offenders who continue, post-conviction, to deny or minimize the violence they have committed pose higher risk for re-offense.

Batterer Intervention Programs

• Over 40 states have standards for batterer intervention programs, but few require these programs to address intimate partner sexual abuse.
• Batterer intervention program approaches to intimate partner sexual abuse vary widely. Some treat it as an integral aspect of their curriculum for all batterers and require them to recognize and take responsibility for any type of sexual abuse or assault. Some address it only in response to an individual disclosure. Some ignore it altogether.
• Prior to approving enrollment of an intimate partner sexual abuse offender in a proposed batterer intervention program, the court should ascertain that the program addresses this issue thoroughly. Judges should also supplement these programs with judicial monitoring.

Sex Offender Treatment

• Ascertain that a proposed sex offender treatment program uses a state-of-the-art cognitive-behavioral approach. NOTE: Even these programs do not specifically address other aspects of domestic violence or offending against an adult intimate partner.
• When state law does not mandate sex offender treatment for convicted offenders or where there are no sex offender treatment programs available, courts should consider requiring an intimate partner sexual abuse offender to attend group counseling for sex addicts in addition to a batterer intervention program.

Encouraging Development of Appropriate Resources for the Disposition of Intimate Partner Sexual Abuse Cases

• Judges in specialized domestic violence courts or serving on domestic violence commissions/coalitions can bring together intervention/treatment providers and key stakeholders to ensure that local batterer intervention programs and sex offender treatment services are up to par in addressing intimate partner sexual abuse.
• When sentencing an intimate partner sexual abuse offender to participate in some type of treatment, instruct the prosecutor or defense counsel to investigate whether and how a proposed intervention/treatment program addresses the issue. If it does not adequately address intimate partner sexual abuse, seek a better program.
• Educate contracting corrections or probations departments about intimate partner sexual abuse to ensure that the intervention/treatment service providers with which they contract address the issue.
• Encourage and participate in judicial education about intimate partner sexual abuse and the appropriate court response.
• If your state code of judicial conduct permits, educate legislators about the need for standards for batterer intervention programs and the need for these standards to mandate inclusion of a thorough consideration of intimate partner sexual abuse in batterer intervention program curricula.
• If your state code of judicial conduct permits, encourage and participate in continuing legal education and community education about court response to intimate partner sexual abuse.