{"id":3025,"date":"2025-10-02T14:51:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T18:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=3025"},"modified":"2025-10-02T14:51:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T18:51:43","slug":"know-how-to-protect-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=3025","title":{"rendered":"Know how to protect yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sadly, recent headlines in NJ have been dominated by tragic stories of individuals being killed by someone who was stalking or harassing them.  Much of the discussion around these events questions why wasn&#8217;t more done to protect the victims.  I have the same questions.  I am aware of the problems with the &#8220;system&#8221; as I have seen those problems surface firsthand when representing my clients.  I should note that I have no involvement in any of the recent events.  In this post I won&#8217;t debate or defend the &#8220;system&#8221;,  and I certainly don&#8217;t intend to criticize the victims in any way whatsoever.  I simply want to provide some helpful information so that individuals can best protect themselves as best possible so that future tragedies can hopefully be prevented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one should be subjected to harassment, stalking or other threatening behavior. When confronted with such conduct, there are certain steps that should be taken in an attempt to obtain the highest level of protection available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, efforts should be made to report the problematic behavior to to <strong>anyone<\/strong>: friends, parents, school administrators, religious leaders, and the police.  But please keep in mind that simply making people aware and filing reports is not enough.  Those actions will document the situation but will not initiate any protective measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>File criminal charges.  File for a Restraining Order under the NJ Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. Such filings will put the wheels in motion.  These steps can be frightening and confusing.  That&#8217;s why The Durst Firm is here to help. Your safety is our primary concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sadly, recent headlines in NJ have been dominated by tragic stories of individuals being killed by someone who was stalking or harassing them. Much of the discussion around these events questions why wasn&#8217;t more done to protect the victims. I &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=3025\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-durstfirm-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6omM8-MN","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2706,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2706","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":0},"title":"If I didn&#8217;t get hit, is it still domestic violence?","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"September 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The immediate answer is a definitive YES. Many people are under the false impression that domestic violence requires physical violence for the Court to protect the victim by entering a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) or a Final Restraining Order (FRO). It is important for both sides - the victim and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst Firm News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2652,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2652","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":1},"title":"Domestic Violence is never OK","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"March 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Domestic violence remains an unfortunate and unwarranted presence in the lives of many NJ citizens. Domestic violence comes in many forms and affects not only the victim, but the extended family; possibly for years down the road. With family members possibly being confined to their homes, with the added stressors\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst Firm News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":907,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=907","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":2},"title":"Should children have their own attorney in parental termination cases?","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"October 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In an apparent effort to protect the rights and interests of children in NJ, the Assembly Judiciary Committee is\u00a0\u00a0 proposing to require children in parental termination cases be provided with their own attorney. BILL WOULD GIVE CHILDREN COUNSEL IN PARENTAL TERMINATION CASES The Assembly Judiciary Committee on Thursday recommended passage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst Firm News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=958","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":3},"title":"An open letter to Hope Solo &#038; all victims of domestic violence","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"November 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Hope Solo; The recent headlines surrounding the claims that you are the victim of domestic violence are troubling.\u00a0 As the facts continue to evolve I sincerely hope that this is all some tragic misunderstanding and that you are not being abused by someone you love and trusted.\u00a0Sadly, the statistics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst Firm News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst Firm News","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2037,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2037","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":4},"title":"Domestic violence victims are entitled to an award of attorney&#8217;s fees","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"February 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The damage caused by acts of domestic violence can be significant and long lasting. Beyond the on obvious physical and emotional harm is financial harm. \u00a0Being forced to incur legal fees to protect yourself from abuse may seem unfair. New Jersey law agrees.\u00a0 In an effort to make the victim\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst on Divorce&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst on Divorce","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2001,"url":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?p=2001","url_meta":{"origin":3025,"position":5},"title":"Can past acts of domestic violence be considered at my FRO hearing?","author":"Sandy Durst","date":"January 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"New Jersey takes protecting victims of domestic violence very serious. \u00a0But in doing so, the law must also protect the due process rights of the alleged abuser. \u00a0When seeking a Temporary Restraining Order or a Final Restaining Order, the victim must identify and prove beyond a preponderance of the evidence\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Durst on Divorce&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Durst on Divorce","link":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3026,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3025\/revisions\/3026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedurstfirm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}