A Civil No Contact Order protects victims of rape, sexual assault, or sexual abuse from their abuser. The Order can also be used to protect the victim's family and rape crisis center workers. The victim does not need to have a relationship with the abuser to get one.

Learn more about being a victim of sexual assault from this timeline.

With the Order, a judge can make the abuser do things or stop them from doing things.

What can the judge make the abuser do or stop them from doing?

• Stay away from the victim,
• Not contact the victim through telephone, computer, email, texts, mail, instant message, social media, or other people,
• Not be within a certain distance from the victim,
• Stay away from specific places like a home, a school, a daycare, or an office, and
• Transfer to another school, if the victim and the abuser attend the same school.

Who can request a Civil No Contact Order?

• Any person who is the victim of sexual assault or abuse,
• Any legal guardian of a child or disabled or elderly adult who has been the victim of sexual assault or abuse,
• Any family member of the victim (with the consent of the victim to file on their behalf), or
• Anyone who lives in the same home as the victim (with the consent of the victim to file on their behalf).

Note that if you have a Civil No Contact Order , the Order can become permanent. This can happen if the abuser is later convicted of sexual assault or sexual abuse in a criminal case.

Help is a phone call away. To find a local advocate, see the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. You can also look at the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.