A legal pilot project that started earlier this year in Utah is helping victims of domestic violence in rural areas find affordable legal guidance to navigate the sometimes confusing maze of protective orders.
More than 10 million people are impacted by domestic violence in the U.S. every year. In rural towns, victims of domestic violence have a particularly hard time finding affordable legal guidance to navigate the protective order maze to prevent future harassment or abuse. In Utah alone, there are 13 different types of protective orders from child protective to dating violence to stalking. If the petitioner picks the wrong one or checks the wrong box, the victim can be denied life-saving protections.
Called the Certified Advocate Partners Program (CAPP), it certifies non-attorney victim advocates to file protective orders on behalf of victims. These advocates are often the most intimately familiar with the needs and rights of victims, yet until now their hands have been tied when it comes to providing valuable legal guidance.
Eaton quotes Susan Griffith of the Timpanogos Legal Center at BYU Law School.
With our Certification program, the Victim Advocate has the authority to give legal advice on which type of protective order the victim should seek, assistance in drafting the petition correctly, and advice on how to present the evidence to the judge or commissioner at the hearing, all of which are critical to the victim’s success.
And from Devin Shakespear, a victim advocate in Kane County, in southern Utah, we get this added context:
Especially in our rural area, we do not have legal services for victims.
A lot of victims, you don’t have the time off work, they don’t have childcare, they don’t have transportation at the time. There’s a lot of reasons why they can’t just up and go to the next city where they can access that type of stuff,”
So just being able to have that access right here locally, someone that they can call up and meet with within a day – maybe two days, depending on their schedule – just always available and then able to provide that help, I think it’s critical.
Shakespear notes that the nearest city with legal services is an hour and a half away.
The story doesn't mention it--at least not explicitly--but this is happening amidst a shortage of lawyers in rural Utah. My own work on domestic violence in the rural context, which discusses all of these barriers, is here and here.
On the rise in rural domestic violence during the pandemic, don't miss a Daily Yonder report by Liz Carey.
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