This petition is to introduce a bill into North Carolina legislature which would make Domestic Violence protection orders permanant. When a victim is granted a protection order the victim has to come back every other year to get the order renewed, which puts the victim in danger (especially if the victim has moved) because they are now back in the abusers teritory! It is also hard, in some towns to get them continued if it has not been violated, but, just because it hasn't yet doesn't mean that the order won't be violated! The abuser could be waiting for the violation to be dropped before they make their move. We also need to get stiffer sentences for abusers. They are violent offenders and are more likely to committ a DV crime in the future than other violent offenders. Just like sexual preditors, abusers are never cured. Just because it is the first time they are brought to court doesn't mean that's the first time they have abused! Every 15 seconds in this country a woman is abused by a partner or ex-partner. We need to get these abusers in prison and keep them there once we get them there. Domestic Violence is a cycle and a learned behavior....lets change the bahavior and stop the cycle!