More than one-half of domestic violence survivors in Los Angeles County, California, have to represent themselves in court against their abusers.
Why we care: Approximately 90 percent of Jenesse Center need legal services to protect themselves and their families from domestic abusers—oftentimes without the right financial services and knowledge.
How we’re solving this: Helping domestic violence survivors effectively represent themselves and advocate for their legal rights in court.
Financial constraints and the lack of familiarity with how the legal system works can make victims of domestic violence feel that they have encountered yet another hurdle in the fight to make themselves and their families safe. Research from the state of California shows that 72% of Family Law litigants in Los Angeles County are self-represented at the time of filing.
Few of our clients are familiar with the intricacies of the law and even fewer understand how the law interacts with federal laws, the Constitution, and public policy. As a result, an unrepresented client can make costly mistakes that limit her ability to stay safe.
It is imperative that women learn how to navigate the Family Law court system in order to protect themselves and their children.
Since 1999, Jenesse Center has provided on-site legal services at our Drop-In Education Center, and off-site services through our Domestic Violence Legal Clinic at the Inglewood Superior Court House. To date, Jenesse Center has helped more than 15,000 women and girls with their legal needs, but we know that we must do more.
Funding from this project will help Jenesse expand our Legal Clinic by launching, “Learning Everything Legal.” The “Learning Everything Legal” program will assist self-represented litigants with document preparation, explanation of court process, and court accompaniment as needed, and will also provide legal classes and workshops.
Donations to this project will cover the following:
- Coordinating and implementing a comprehensive legal education and empowerment curriculum that includes an interactive mock trial program; the trail will be videotaped role-play in a simulated courtroom using scripts based on real court cases and live feed-back from experienced Family Court attorneys and judges.
- The creation and implementation of a Peer-to-Peer Legal Advocacy Training Program designed to teach volunteers and former program participants the skills necessary to mentor, guide and direct clients as they navigate the legal system.
- Childcare services for workshop participants and Legal Advocacy Program trainees.
- Community education and outreach forums.
- Food services for workshop participants and Legal Advocacy Program trainees
- Educational materials, instructional stipends, and promotional materials.
Peace in our homes is a human rights issue and we cannot rest until women and their daughters are empowered to access the systems that will help make them safer.