offered by
Superior Court
District Court
Boston Municipal Court
related to
Abuse & Harassment Court Orders

Harassment Prevention Orders

The harassment prevention law, commonly called Chapter 258E , is there to protect you against someone who is harassing, stalking or sexually assaulting you, no matter what your relationship with them might be.

The harassment prevention law can be used to protect you against anyone. The law allows you to seek a court order, which is sometimes called a 258E order, harassment prevention order, restraining order, or protective order. In court, the plaintiff is the person who asks the court to issue the order. The defendant is the person the order is issued against.

What would you like to do?

Top tasks

Find out how harassment prevention orders work 
Request a harassment prevention order 

What you need to know

Find out what qualifies as harassment 
Find out what happens if the defendant violates a harassment prevention order 
Court resources for safety and support 
Massachusetts law about harassment, stalking, or intentional infliction of emotional distress 
Resources if you're being abused or harassed 

Locations

A list of court locations where you can get a harassment prevention order

Find court locations

Related Services

Did you find what you were looking for on this webpage? *
We use your feedback to help us improve this site but we are not able to respond directly. Please do not include personal or contact information. If you need a response, please locate the contact information elsewhere on this page or in the footer.
We use your feedback to help us improve this site but we are not able to respond directly. Please do not include personal or contact information. If you need a response, please locate the contact information elsewhere on this page or in the footer.

If you need to report child abuse, any other kind of abuse, or need urgent assistance, please click here.

Feedback