Opinion » Guestopinion

Civil legal aid is a potent tool in helping women leave violent relationships

Wednesday Apr 16, 2014

By Lonnie Powers

The high profile-and shocking-case of Jared Remy, the son of Red Sox commentator Jerry Remy who is currently awaiting trial on charges that he murdered his girlfriend Jennifer Martel, has brought much attention to the issue of domestic violence.

In response, state lawmakers are working on legislation to tighten up the state's domestic violence laws and toughen penalties for repeat offenders.

In addition to these efforts, serious consideration must be given to expanding civil legal aid to victims of domestic violence. Here in the South End and surrounding neighborhoods, we continually see the positive results that this work can bring through the work of Greater Boston Legal Services. The court system can be scary and overwhelming for people who are already vulnerable. Without strong legal advocacy and other professional support, people in abusive relationships can be easily persuaded or intimidated out of pursuing legal action against their abusers.

Research shows that the availability of civil legal services significantly reduces the likelihood that a woman will be battered. In 2000, two researchers at the Carnegie Mellon Census Research Data Center were intrigued by a U.S. Department of Justice report noting that rates of domestic violence had significantly declined during the 1990s. By analyzing data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, as well as the U.S. Census, they concluded that access to civil legal services was a primary reason for the decline. Services provided by emergency shelters, counselors, and hotlines are vital during a crisis. But access to protective orders; assistance with child custody and support; divorce and property distribution; and domestic violence-related legal disputes around immigration, housing, and public benefits help over the long-term as these services "appear to actually present women with real, long-term alternatives to their relationships," the researchers concluded in their report, which was published in 2003 in Contemporary Economic Policy.

Additionally, between 1994 and 2000, the period during which incidences of domestic violence declined, the availability of civil legal services for victims of domestic violence increased 245 percent (from 336 such programs to 1, 441).

A majority of the battered women in the study were living in poverty. This fact once again reinforces the dire need for civil legal aid, which provides legal representation, advice, and information to low-income people with non-criminal legal problems such as domestic violence, child custody, or employment issues.

During the Fiscal Year 2013 in Massachusetts, the Battered Women's Legal Assistance Project-which provides legal assistance to victims of domestic violence through local agencies like Greater Boston Legal Services-assisted 2,141 victims of domestic violence and their children. Among those victims, 982 of them had complex cases that involved multiple court visits. All of them were poor, in most cases with incomes at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level, or $573 per week for a family of four. Without access to free legal assistance, these victims of abuse might not have been able to navigate the legal process, thus keeping themselves and their children more vulnerable.

If we as a society are serious about preventing domestic violence, the expansion of civil legal aid for domestic violence victims must be in the policy mix. It makes no sense to ignore a tool proven to help individuals and families break free over the long-term from the cycle of violence and return to living safe, healthy and productive lives.

Lonnie Powers is the executive director of the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation.