Michelle Caiola, senior counsel at Legal Momentum, a gender equity legal, education and advocacy group, said states began putting such rules in place close to a decade ago. Although most states have statutes providing protections for crime victims, laws specifically carving out protections for domestic violence victims are especially needed, Caiola says. "There remains a bias against victims of domestic violence," she says. "A stereotype. It's an issue people don't want to be involved with or take very seriously."