“A [Kentucky] judge fined two women for contempt of court after they returned to their alleged abusers despite obtaining protective orders against them,” The AP reports. “‘I have found that there has been a number of petitioners who have chosen to come and get an order, and then ignore the order,” Fayette District Judge Megan Lake Thornton said at one of the hearings. “You can’t have it both ways.'”

The judge’s frustration is understandable, but she’s making a mistake in handing out fines of $200 and $100, said Lisa Beran, an attorney for the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association.

Abused women might flee their attackers several times before they leave for good because they can’t afford a new place to live, or they’re still in love, Beran said.

Sherry Currens, executive director of the association, said punishing abused women for going home can discourage other women from seeking protective orders in the first place.

“The risk here is that women will be discouraged from asking for an order if they think it can get them into trouble later, or if they think a judge is going to chastise them in a courtroom,” Currens said.

Both women who were fined said they were abused by men, and they asked the court for emergency protective orders that forbid future contact.

But the women returned to the homes they shared with their alleged abusers before the follow-up hearings typically held two weeks later.

What’s the fuss? If the judicial order calls for a two week separation then it calls for a two week separation. Should you choose not to comply, you’re in violation of the terms of that order. Sorry, but I don’t believe (with Ms. Currens) that this will “discourage women from asking for an order”; in fact, it might just ensure that those who apply for the order are serious about it.

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