Pennsylvania was the second state in the nation to provide a civil remedy for domestic violence. Since 1976 when the initial law was passed the Protection From Abuse Act at Pa. C.S.A. 6100. et sec. has evolved into a comprehensive statute package. The Joint State Government Commission was recently authorized to study the PFA Act by 2015 House Resolution 735. The commission issued a report, “Protection From Abuse in Pennsylvania: a Staff Study” on Nov. 15, 2016. The PFA Act provides immediate relief, but may be “inadequate” when it comes to enforcement of a protection from abuse order. To be utilized, the parties must meet certain relationship requirements and there must be a finding of abuse. Once this criterion has been met, a protection order can be entered for up to 36 months.

The PFA Act and its package of laws touch on many areas of law outside what many presume to be the family law realm. Protection for victims under the PFA Act touch on insurance law, criminal law, landlord/tenant law, housing, social services, health care and medical treatment, employment and education.

The report also looks in to the “frequent” and “anecdotal” allegations that PFAs are misused as tactics in divorce and custody matters. The report points out that there are remedies for misuse and bad faith filings. Temporary orders were dismissed almost one-third of the time because the plaintiff/victim failed to appear at the final hearing. Almost a quarter of the temporary orders were either withdrawn or settled prior to hearing. In 2015, 37,387 temporary PFA orders were granted. Of those 5,817 final PFAs were granted and 1,571 final orders were denied. It appears that when cases when to trial, PFAs were granted five times more than they were denied. In 7,167 instances the parties entered into a stipulation or agreement. Another 7,685 withdrew the PFAs. It is hard to compare the withdrawn orders and stipulations entered. Each county has different procedures for PFAs. Not all counties allow for the same ability to enter into stipulations or agreements.