Legal Update: Changes to 209A and 258E Restraining Orders Expand Protections for Massachusetts Survivors

Legal Update:
Changes to 209A and 258E Restraining Orders Expand Protections for Massachusetts Survivors

By Moire Balsam
Senior Attorney, Victim Rights Law Center

Recent changes to Massachusetts laws expand the protections available under 209A Abuse Prevention and 258E Harassment Prevention Orders. These updates make it easier for survivors to apply for and receive these critical orders.  

For survivors of domestic violence, the 209A statute now includes an expanded definition of abuse that includes coercive control. For survivors of non-intimate partner sexual assault or stalking, the 258E statute now provides a path for judges to order the surrender of firearms, ammunition, licenses to carry, and firearm identification cards. The definition of criminal harassment has been expanded to prohibit the distribution of sexual images without consent. Both 209A Abuse Prevention and 258E Harassment Prevention Orders now provide relief for survivors who have had explicit images of them shared without their consent or have had AI produced explicit images of them shared without their consent. 

Updates to 209A Restraining Orders 

Because the 209A statute requires a family, household, or substantial dating relationship between the survivor and the defendant, 209A typically provides an avenue for survivors of domestic violence to seek a protection order. 

By expanding the definition of abuse to include coercive control, the statute reflects the reality that coercive control is domestic violence. Coercive control is statutorily defined as either: 

• a pattern of conduct intended to threaten, intimidate, harass, isolate, control, coerce or compel compliance of a family or household member that causes that family or household member to reasonably fear physical harm or have a reduced sense of physical safety or autonomy, or  
• a single act of attempting to harm a child relative of the survivor, committing or attempting to commit abuse to an animal connected to the survivor, or publishing or attempting to publish sexually explicit images of the survivor. A survivor must demonstrate that the single act was intended to threaten, intimidate, harass, isolate, control, or coerce compliance of the survivor and caused the survivor to reasonably fear physical harm or have a reduced sense of physical safety or autonomy.  

Examples that could demonstrate a pattern of coercive control include but are not limited to physical or social isolation, depriving access to basic needs, monitoring or tracking, legal abuse, and revenge porn. 

Prior to this September 18, 2024 expansion, 209A focused heavily on physical violence.  By identifying coercive control as abuse and recognizing the damage it causes, 209A now recognizes that coercive control is a form of violence. This expansion provides a critical pathway for survivors to seek protection from the court and obtain restraining orders against their abusers.   

Updates to 258E Restraining Orders 

While 209A orders have long provided domestic violence survivors a means to request that an abuser surrender their firearms and related materials, up until the recent expansion, 258E did not provide a similar mechanism for survivors of non-intimate partner violence. This was a significant gap. 258E protects survivors of harassment, including sexual assault and stalking survivors, who do not have a relationship that would qualify them for a 209A order. As of October 2, 2024, judges can now order the immediate suspension and surrender of firearms, ammunition, license to carry and firearm identification cards where a survivor has shown an immediate danger of harassment. This expansion closes the prior safety gap, giving greater protection to survivors of non-intimate partner violence.  

Lastly, as of September 18, 2024, the criminal harassment statute now prohibits the distribution of sexual images without consent. Prior to this expansion, survivors who learned someone had distributed sexual images of them had no means to seek a restraining order against their harasser in Massachusetts unless they suffered other harassing conduct that fell under 258E. Because criminal harassment is one of the enumerated statutes that fall under 258E, survivors can now seek relief from the nonconsensual sharing of explicit images, including “deep fake” and digitally altered images, through 258E Harassment Prevention Orders.  

More survivors are now eligible for protection orders. If you are interested in learning more about your options under 209A and 258E, please give our state-wide intake line a call at 617-399-6720 x19. 

Moire Balsam (she/her) is a Senior Attorney at Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC). She represents rape, sexual assault, and stalking survivors seeking 209A Abuse Prevention Orders and 258E Harassment Prevention Orders. Moire also provides direct representation to survivors in privacy and education matters.