Type:	Booklet
Title:	An approach to legal advocacy with individual battered women
Authors:	Davies, Jill
Keywords:	Leaving/Staying;Criminal justice responses;Advocacy;Risk factors
Year:	2003
Publisher:	Greater Hartford Legal Aid Inc., Hartford
Notes:	General overview: This US paper addresses non-lawyer advocates working with battered women. The paper outlines “woman-defined legal advocacy”, which requires an advocate to work with the woman to enhance her safety plan. In particular, the advocate should understand the woman’s perspective, explore both legal and non-legal options to enhance her safety plan and work with her to implement her plan. Discussion: The legal system has provided victims with more options for escaping violence but there are many limitations to its usefulness. Barriers for battered women include the cost of representation and filing fees, the complexity of the law and legal procedures, the narrowness of the scope of some legal remedies, difficulties in enforcing court orders and potential for conflict between the goals of a particular woman and the goals of workers within the legal system. Advocates working with battered women must avoid practising law. They must reconcile their support for victims with the civil rights of the defendant. They must come to terms with the adversarial nature of the legal system, where conflict is normal and there are winners and losers. A battered woman’s safety plan includes strategies to reduce the risk of physical violence and other harm to herself and her children. It also includes strategies to satisfy needs for income, housing, health care, food, child care and education. Advocates tend to focus on physical violence only and on the benefits of leaving the abuser, but safety plans must address all basic needs and must consider the risks of leaving, as well as the risks of staying. Leaving can increase the risks of violence to a woman or her children, and can increase the risk of losing access to money, food, and housing. A safety plan may be short- or long-term; for example, a woman may plan to leave when she has a job or her children have left home. A plan may change quickly in response to new information. For example, a woman may plan to pursue criminal justice remedies but when she finds that the offender will be released on bail or that she will have to attend court hearings, she may change her plan. An advocate must know what legal options are available and know the process for accessing these options. She should explore with the woman whether these options will enhance her safety or make things worse – the woman may have tried some of these options, without success. Advocates should also explore alternatives outside the legal system. Once a plan is made, the advocate can assist in implementing the plan, and provide referrals. Appendix A, titled “Advocacy Approach Basics”, outlines basic techniques for working with battered women. Appendix B, “Battered Women’s Risk Analysis Chart”, illustrates the many risks that a battered woman must take into account and emphasises that leaving a relationship does not necessarily reduce or eliminate risk.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/18105
Appears in Collections:	General Resources

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