Protection orders: Can the civil legal system help protect me?

You'll learn:

• What a protection order is

• Types of protection orders that help prevent domestic violence or other kinds of behavior that frightens you or puts you at risk

• Asking for a protection order is free and you don't need a lawyer

• How your protection order protects you and how long it can last

• The Basics

It's a civil court order (an order you request), issued by a judge, meant to protect you from another person. You can ask for a protection order if you're experiencing domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault, or stalking. We define each of these below.

*You can also ask for a protection order if you're a vulnerable adult experiencing abuse or neglect, or on behalf of such an adult. Read Protecting elders and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect to learn more.

State law defines domestic violence as happening when someone you are related to, living with now or have lived with, or have ever been in an intimate relationship with does any of these:

• Harms you physically, including sexual assault

• Causes you to fear immediate physical harm or assault

• Stalks you, including online (called cyberstalking)

• Engages in behavior that causes you physical, emotional, or psychological harm, and unreasonably interferes with your free will and personal liberty (called coercive control)

No one has the right to threaten or hurt you. The abuser's relationship to you doesn't matter.

You can read the state law at  RCW 7.105.010(8).

These are a few examples. This isn't a complete list:

• Driving recklessly with you and/or the children in the vehicle to scare and force you to do what the person wants you to do over your own wishes

• Threatening to kill themselves if you don't stay in the relationship with them

• Telling your friends and family that they're going to destroy your career or report you to immigration because you're ending the relationship

• Threatening to blackmail you

You can read the law to see more examples at RCW 7.105.010(37).

Washington State law defines it as someone's behavior that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or is detrimental to you. This behavior has no legitimate purpose. The law protects criminal justice workers and election workers from harassment, too. You can read the state law about this at RCW 9A.46.110 and RCW 7.105.010(35).

Under state law, stalking as a crime happens when all these are true:

• Someone intentionally and repeatedly harasses or follows you. This can include them using a GPS or other tracking device to track your whereabouts.

• You have a reasonable fear that they want to hurt someone (it does not have to be you), or someone's property (it does not have to be yours).

• The stalker knows or should know that they are frightening, intimidating, or harassing you.

If this describes your situation, consider calling the police.

*Someone stalking you online, called cyber harassment, is also a stalking crime. You can read the state law about this at RCW 9A.90.120. 

Read Protecting elders and vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect to learn more. That fact sheet also talks about other options for vulnerable adults besides protection orders.

It includes rape, but for purposes of getting a protection order, state law defines it more generally as any sexual conduct or penetration that you didn't freely agree to (is nonconsensual). Read the law at RCW 7.105.100(b) to learn more.

No. You can only ask for a restraining order as part of a family law action (like a divorce or parentage case) you're filing or responding to. You don't need to be involved in a family law case to ask for a protection order. Read I have experienced domestic violence. Should I file a protection order (PO)? to learn more.

No. You can do it yourself or you can ask someone from a domestic violence shelter to help you.

There's no fee.

The forms are available in District and Superior Courts statewide. Check with your local court first.

You can also use our printable How to File for a Protection Order packet, or our do-it-yourself interview program, Washington Forms Online, to fill out the forms at WashingtonLawHelp.org.

*Are you a Tribal Member or living in a Tribal Community or on a Reservation? You may have the choice of filing for a protection order in a State Court or a Tribal Court. Each Tribe's code and/or process may differ. Contact the Tribal Court to learn more. (Use the Tribal Court directory at bit.ly/3xG65rt.) State Court forms may not work in Tribal Court.

*After you get your protection order

You should always carry a certified copy of it with you. A certified copy is a copy the clerk makes for you with a raised seal on it.

If you feel comfortable doing so, you should call the police to report a violation.

Yes. They enter your Protection Order in a statewide computer system. It is enforceable statewide and in other states.

It lasts either for a fixed period or permanently. You can read the law about this at RCW 7.105.310. If it protects children, the part of it protecting the children can only last, at the longest, one year.

You can ask a judge to renew the order before it expires. The judge must renew your order unless the person the Order protects you from can prove they're no longer a risk to you and/or your children.

This is a crime. The police must enforce your order and arrest the person who has harmed you. You can read the law about this at RCW 7.105.450.

• Protections for Native American survivors of domestic violence

• Hide your address from a stalker or abuser