Washington State Courts
01/09/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/09/2025 13:01
Press Conference Scheduled for January 16 to Mark Launch of Hope Card Program for Domestic Violence Survivors
Press Conference Scheduled for January 16 to Mark Launch of Hope Card Program for Domestic Violence Survivors
January 09, 2025In 2023, nearly 15,000 abusers violated domestic violence protection and no contact orders in Washington state. The violations threaten the lives of survivors and extend their trauma.
The Hope Card program, launched Jan. 1, 2025, gives survivors a wallet-sized portable copy of their protection order similar to a driver's license that they can quickly show to law enforcement, employers school officials and landlords if an abuser is violating an order.
A press conference covering the launch of Washington's Hope Card Program is set for Jan. 16 at 12:30 p.m. The press conference will run until 1:30 p.m. and take place in House Hearing Room D at the John L. O'Brien building. TVW will stream the event.
Hope Cards are completely free and available to anyone with the following types of valid full civil protection orders: Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, Vulnerable Adult and Anti-Harassment Protection Orders.
The program launched Jan. 1st with the goal to offer survivors an easier and less stressful way to carry vital information about their full orders of protection, which typically range from 12 to 18 pages in their entirety.
The press conference is a collaborative effort between the legislators who originally sponsored the bill, and the AOC who administers the program.
"This is about prioritizing survivors and keeping them safe. The bulky legal-size documents survivors are currently required to carry to prove they have a protection order are cumbersome and challenging," said Rep. Dan Griffey, (R-Allyn) the sponsor of the 2023 bill that created the Hope Card. "Survivors already have enough to worry about, and sadly the system favors the abuser. The Hope Card is one way we change that."
"There is hope after domestic violence. I am living proof," said Rep. Lauren Davis, (D-Shoreline) who co-sponsored the bill and will be a Hope Card recipient. "Protection orders can be effective, but they only work if they are enforced. In fact, failure to hold a perpetrator accountable for a violation increases the lethality risk for a victim. Repeated violations of an order are an indicator of stalking, which is highly correlated with intimate partner homicide. The Hope Card program will help ensure that abusers are held accountable and that protection orders actually provide the safety that the state promises when they are issued. I am honored to partner with my friend and colleague, Rep. Griffey, in this work, and I am deeply grateful for his leadership."
CONTACT: Patric Haerle, AOC Communications Officer, 360-712-1892, [email protected]; Hanna Scott, House Republican Public Information Officer, [email protected]; Lauren Pilnick, Hope Card Program Analyst, [email protected].
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