Domestic Violence

A. Introduction

In response to the growing awareness of the devastating effects of domestic violence, the federal government, states and local communities have implemented a wide range of policy initiatives designed to improve the response to domestic violence. Among the many approaches used to address this problem, the provision of legal services to victims of domestic violence has emerged as a significant and effective response.1

This project focuses on the provision of civil legal services to victims of domestic violence in the family law context. The project is designed to identify and promote the effective provision of civil legal services to victims of domestic violence in the family law context in two ways: (1) by providing a comprehensive resource on the delivery of legal services to victims of domestic violence, and (2) by identifying and promoting effective practices for delivering civil legal services to these victims.

This resource is the first in a series of three resource guides to be published by the National Center for State Courts. The second guide focuses on the effective delivery of civil legal services to victims of domestic violence in the child custody and visitation context, and the third guide focuses on effective practices for delivering civil legal services to victims of domestic violence in the housing context.

The purpose of this resource