TAMPA, Fla. — Several bills are on the books with the Florida legislature to improve protections for victims of domestic violence.

One measure, if passed, would let survivors of domestic violence carry “Hope Cards” with information about any protective court orders they have obtained.

It’s a tool to assist law enforcement in verifying calls and making an arrest when there’s a violation of a restraining order.

Another bill introduced is the Gabby Petito Act, which would require officers responding to a domestic violence call to fill out a lethality form to assess the safety and likelihood of injury or death.

Just before her death, police in Utah got a call about domestic disturbance related to Petito and her then-boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.

It was later wrongly classified as a mental and emotional break, not domestic violence.

The 22-year-old’s body was found in Wyoming. Laundrie, who took his own life, admitted to killing Petito in a notebook entry he left behind.

The legislation would add a layer of early intervention to try to prevent more tragedies like that.

The Spring of Tampa Bay, a shelter for women, was deeply involved in developing the language for the bill.

“Some counties already use an assessment, and some counties don’t,” said CEO of The Spring of Tampa Bay Mindy Murphy. “This will ensure that every county will have a lethality assessment, which is essentially a series of questions that are evidence-based and help law enforcement officers determine the likelihood that the survivor may be killed by her abusive partner.”

According to the CDC, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience physical violence by their intimate partner at some point during their lifetimes.

Ashley Wilson is a domestic violence survivor who says she’s now back on her feet after experiencing years of abuse.

She says one of her abusers was a relative, and she experienced abuse in her relationships.

“I was pushed, choked,” said Wilson. “There was financial control. In one instance, my business was stolen from me.”

She says she hid it from many in her circle.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, abusers go to extremes to prevent their victims from leaving. In fact, leaving an abuser is the most dangerous time for a victim of domestic violence. That’s when Wilson says law enforcement plays a critical role.

“The police are really the only entity that can respond 24/7,” she said.

But she says they haven’t always had tools to respond effectively.

She supports the ‘Hope Card’ bill and the Gabby Petito Act, which requires officers to make further assessments while responding to domestic violence calls.

“If they could understand what is causing the explosive experiences between people, that would help them solve cases before they get out of control,” said Wilson. “You have people on different levels of intellect, and they are also potentially using drugs and alcohol, and they have to try to fish out information to find out what has actually happened. It’s got to be incredibly challenging for law enforcement.”

She’s thankful this dialogue is happening.

“I have family who have seen me go through relationships, and it has been humiliating, but you can’t control someone’s behaviour. You just have to do what you need to do,” said Wilson.

By addressing it on the local and legislative level, Wilson says the stigma is being removed and encourages domestic violence victims to seek help.