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Fotis Dulos' home, where he had been confined awaiting trial in the disappearance of his wife. Credit: Frankie Graziano / Connecticut Public Radio

No.

In Connecticut, restraining orders are not only granted in domestic violence cases that involve physical violence or injury. In 2021, lawmakers passed “Jennifer’s Law,” which expanded the definition of domestic violence or abuse to include “coercive control.”

The law is named after Jennifer Farber Dulos and Jennifer Magnano, women who were killed by their domestic partners.

The law defines coercive control as “a pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty.” Coercive control includes patterns or history of verbal threats, forced isolation, stalking, cyberstalking, and financial restraint and control. 

Jennifer’s Law also made criminal violations of a protection order a “family violence crime” in certain scenarios. Protective orders in Connecticut are meant to protect people who are not family and do not live with the person they are filing the complaint against.

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Mariana Navarrete Villegas is a Community Engagement Reporter for The Connecticut Mirror, covering Hartford. She recently graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism with a master’s degree in Bilingual Journalism. Previously, she was the Community Engagement and Video Assistant at Epicenter-NYC and a Podcast Intern at The Take, Al Jazeera English’s daily news podcast. As a reporter, she has covered stories from New York to Florida, California, Panama, and Mexico, focusing on labor rights, immigration, and community care. She also hosts 'La Chismesita,' a community radio show in New York that archives oral histories through conversations with women community leaders. Originally from Mexico, Mariana spent her teenage years in Panama. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies with a minor in Psychology from Saint Leo University, where she interned at the International Rescue Committee.