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Paper Abuse: Documenting New Abuse Tactics  


Author:  Susan L. Miller.; Nicole L. Smolter.


Source: Volume 06, Number 04, Spring 2014 , pp.31-37(7)




Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly

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Abstract: 

Susan L. Miller and Nicole L. Smolter describe “Paper Abuse,” a common form of intimate partner abuse that operates within the venue of the legal system. Sometimes referred to as “legal abuse,” a term popularized by Dr. Karin Huffer’s book Legal Abuse Syndrome, paper abuse encompasses repeated fi lings of frivolous, vindictive legal motions by abusers and their attorneys solely for the purpose of wearing down their victims financially and emotionally. This commonly reported experience causes enormous stress on victims who are already suffering the trauma caused by their earlier interactions with their batterers and who must now have contact with them via the legal processes and appearances demanded by the abuser’s baseless motions.

Keywords: legal procedures as abuse tactic

Affiliations:  1: University of Delaware; 2: University of Delaware.

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