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69 Am. U. L. Rev. 253 (2019-2020)
Adding Insult to Injury: The Unconscionability of Alimony Payments from Domestic Violence Survivors to Their Abusers

handle is hein.journals/aulr69 and id is 257 raw text is: COMMENT ADDING INSULT TO INJURY: THE UNCONSCIONABILITY OF ALIMONY PAYMENTS FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS TO THEIR ABUSERS AMANDA NANNARONE* In 2017, the #MeToo movement took social media by storm when individuals from all walks of life began openly sharing their experiences with sexual violence and gender-based harassment for the first time. Starting in the employment space and moving to other areas, the movement encouraged legal changes that improve gender equality. Alimony, which has received little scholarly attention in recent years, became of interest to #MeToo reformers who discovered current laws failed to adequately serve survivors' interests by forcing them to pay spousal support to their abusive ex-spouse. Instead of a uniform system that removed the possibility of survivors being required to pay spousal support to their abusers, lawyers and clients face a patchwork of statutes that vary wildly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions prohibit considering any evidence of marital misconduct, while others leave it solely to the court's discretion. California is the only state that has affirmatively enacted legislation disqualifying alimony payments from survivors to abusers. As state legislatures continually fail to implement proper laws, survivors' only hope in having alimony provisions in divorce settlements invalidated lies * Senior Staff Member, American University Law Review, Volume 69; J.D. Candidate, May 2020, American University Washington College of Law; B.A., Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, American University. I dedicate this Comment to survivors of domestic violence. To those survivors: you are strong, you are brave, and you are not alone. Your stories matter and your voices are heard. #MeToo.