• California law provides protection to domestic violence victims that other states do not.gavel image by Cora Reed from Fotolia.com
  
  Typically one of the country's most progressive states, California has been working since 2000 to improve its system of dealing with the issue of domestic violence. California's state laws on domestic violence include some newer provisions that may not be on the books in other areas.
  
  

Restraining Order Violations

• When a spouse or other family member is a victim of domestic violence, one common response is to get a restraining order against the aggressor. This order is meant to prevent the aggressor from contacting the victim. California law requires that violations of this type of order result in an arrest of the violator. However, there is no obligation to prosecute these cases, according to women's rights website PurpleBerets.org.
  
  

Removal of Weapons

• According to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, a domestic violence complaint automatically grants law enforcement a warrant to search the premises and seize firearms or other weapons present within the home. This law hopes to prevent future acts of violence involving weapons.
  
  

Victim Relocation

• California legislature passed a law that gives those who report domestic violence to police access to $2,000 for purposes of relocating to safe housing. In some communities this money is available in as little as one week after the application is filed, according to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.
  
  

Roommates And Ex-spouses

• California law protects spouses and children from domestic violence, but it also includes less common victims. Ex-spouses may still have contact with the former partner, especially if they share children. In some cases this violence may spill over into their meetings with one another. If so, the law also protects the ex-spouse under the same laws. In addition, the roommates of an aggressor are protected under California domestic violence laws. Any cohabitant, whether related or not, can file a domestic violence complaint on a person she resides with.
  
  

Child Custody

• In California the law requires the court to assume that a custody arrangement is detrimental to the child if the perpetrator of the domestic violence has primary custody, according to PurpleBerets.org. Therefore, unless specific circumstances persuade the court to rule differently, the parent who did not perpetrate the violence would gain custody of the child.