Editor’s note: This story contains sensitive topics of domestic violence and abuse and may be sensitive to some readers.
Ten years ago, Amy Trask was in her kitchen making eggs for breakfast, her newborn asleep in the crib. Her partner sat on the couch, still intoxicated from the night before. The air was tense.
As her newborn began to wake, Trask was told to “shut the baby up,” she said. With each wail, she felt her partner’s anger begin to escalate. As she grabbed her child, she dialed 911.
Moments later, the phone was taken from her hands and shattered against the wall. Through the pain of the physical abuse, Trask said she remembers a moment of stillness came over her, reminding her she was going to protect her child if it was the last thing she’d do.
“I remember throwing myself on top of my child … thinking that this was it, that I was gonna die, and that I just needed to hold on until the police came,” she said.
In the United States, one in four women are victims of domestic violence. Each year, domestic violence affects nearly 10 million people, according to the National Institute of Health. Last year in Gainesville alone, police responded to an average of about 2.5 domestic violence incidents per day.
Following her own experience, Trask set out to create a pair of bills to protect other Floridians from facing the same. If passed, the bills would expand law enforcement response and victim resources and create a “panic button” to make it easier for people to escape their situation.
Senate Bill 240 and House Bill 19, companion bills named “Victims of Domestic Violence and Dating Violence,” is Trask’s monthslong project. Each bill will be voted on through its respective chamber during Florida’s upcoming legislative session in March.
A companion bill is a bill introduced in one chamber that is identical or similar to a bill in the other chamber, usually to streamline the approval process. The bills may be amended any number of times throughout each respective committee's reviews. However, both bills must be of identical form when up for vote in both chambers.
If passed in both chambers, the identical versions will be drafted into one bill for Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign into law.
What would the bills do?
The first thing the bills would do is redefine “dating violence” and “domestic violence” to be legally consistent with each other, Trask said.
In Florida, domestic violence law encompasses familial relationships, including blood relatives and marriages. It requires the individuals to have lived together at some point or have a shared child.
Dating violence law centers around recent romantic or intimate relationships, and the actual definition of the relationship is determined by specific criteria, including duration and interaction. There is no cohabitation requirement.
State support service providers rely on statutory definitions to determine eligibility for aid. The difference in criteria may result in inconsistent applications of the laws, delaying or limiting legal protections.
Due to these distinctions, Trask said, victims of dating violence may be left with fewer resources.
The new bills may also expand the eligibility criteria for the Florida Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program to victims of dating violence and stalking.
The ACP provides victims of domestic violence with public records exemptions, including a substitute address they can use on official records and mail to keep them safe from their abusers. The program is different from a witness protection program, which provides additional physical security measures, financial support or government assistance for identity changes.
The bills could also establish a new council through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement made up of law enforcement leaders, victim services and legal experts.
Most notably, the council would be tasked with developing a website synchronized with law enforcement databases allowing users to receive immediate updates and support tailored to their situation.
After users fill out an online form, the website would generate a unique phone number they can use to discreetly contact emergency services. When users make a call using their personalized number, they’ve also chosen a specific pin code or phrase carefully alerting law enforcement to their distress.
Trask said the provision would help victims receive immediate support in a form similar to emergency “code word” practices in pop culture, such as “placing a pizza order” through 911 or ordering an “angel shot” at a bar.
“When they’re ready, they call that number they’ve saved as ‘Dad’ or ‘Aunt Mary,’ and if they can’t speak, they dial in that pin number,” she said. “If the abuser takes your phone mid-call, you’re on the phone with ‘Aunt Mary.’”
If passed, the council’s first meeting would be required to occur by Oct. 1.
State Senator Lori Berman, D-Palm Beach, said she was “very happy to take on the bill” and be SB 240’s sponsor in the senate. State Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson, D-Gainesville, sponsored the bill’s House counterpart.
As a legislator, Berman’s responsible for drafting the bill. For nearly four months, her office worked to carefully edit the bill before it was officially filed in the legislature Jan. 14.
Berman said her main motivations to sponsor stemmed from her involvement in previous domestic violence legislation.
Greyson’s Law, which went into effect in 2023, enhances child safety in custody decisions by mandating that courts consider evidence of domestic violence, including threats against a parent, when determining parenting plans. Berman carried the law through two legislative sessions before it was passed.
Berman said the most interesting aspect of the bill was the FDLE’s creation of the website, citing it would improve the current support system for victims.
Berman mentioned the council may have difficulty when equitably distributing resources, especially to rural areas. Berman said her office will be continuing meetings with the FDLE to ensure the bill’s technology standards can feasibly be met.
“Domestic violence should not be a partisan issue,” she said. “I believe the Florida legislature’s job is to do everything we can to protect victims.”
Local law enforcement resources
In 2024, about 40% of the Gainesville Police Department’s 569 responses to battery incidents were for domestic battery, according to GPD report data.
When GPD officers respond to domestic violence, their actions are guided directly by Florida law. Upon arrival, the officer will assist the victim in obtaining medical treatment if needed. The officer is required to provide the victim with immediate notice of their legal rights and remedies, using a standard form developed by the state. They’ll also inform victims about available services at local support centers and the possibility of filing a criminal complaint and an injunction for protection.
Additionally, the officer must conduct a lethality assessment to evaluate the risk of further harm to the victim. Regardless of whether an arrest is made, the officer must complete a detailed written report of the incident, which is then shared with the nearest certified domestic violence center within 24 hours. In Gainesville, the nearest certified centers are Peaceful Paths and the Alachua County Crisis Center.
GPD Sgt. Lynne Valdes is the coordinator for the local Rape Aggression Defense program. The national R.A.D. program is a free three-day, 25-person course designed to teach self-defense and education.
The course is taught through GPD four times a year, Valdes said. The first day focuses on education and the second on skill building. The final day focuses on collaboration, where GPD demonstrates simulations and partners with Alachua County Victim Services for resource support.
Valdes has been coordinator of the R.A.D. program for nearly a decade and continues to teach because of the confidence boost she sees from others who complete the course, she said.
“It’s amazing to see shy females come in on day one, not sure of themselves, not sure of what they can do, and by day three … seeing how confident, that they are enough and that they have a plan, it’s great,” she said.
The overall responses to the program are positive, especially when women have traditionally been told it’s “un-ladylike to fight,” she said.
The Alachua Sheriff’s Office also partners with Santa Fe College to teach the same course.
Looking ahead
Throughout January, Amy Trask said she met with over 60 legislators, detailing her story to each of them. She’s still looking for more Republican sponsors, but said she’s received positive support thus far.
Although she has no expectations, Trask said she’s committed to help the bill’s implementation, if passed, in any way she can. Above all, Trask said she hopes the bills convey to survivors that their lives matter.
“This bill has taught me that the most important thing I can teach my children is that love doesn’t hurt,” she said. “Whether this bill helps one person or 10,000 people … if it’s the only thing I ever do, legislatively, I’m going to be proud of that.”
Contact Sara-James Ranta at sranta@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sarajamesranta.
Sara-James Ranta is a third-year journalism major, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. Previously, she served as a general assignment reporter for The Alligator's university desk.
