There are plenty of questions to ask about why the legal system treats women in domestic violation situations so poorly. But there are, or should be, some serious awakenings as to the reasons why Legal Aid is not championing women who are in this unforgivable situation, and just who these women are.

Think Progress outlines a serious problem of women, in domestic violence situations, actually being turned away when requesting legal representation.

According to the NNEDV’s annual survey of domestic violence service providers, on a given day in 2015, 12,197 victims who sought help had to be turned away.

CREDIT: Dylan Petrohilos
… Most of the people turned away are seeking shelter: 41 percent of the unmet requests were for emergency shelter, while 22 percent were for transitional housing or some other housing service. Yet 72 programs reduced or eliminated their housing services last year altogether. This left victims exposed and vulnerable to their abusers.
But of course, many of these agencies cry poor and always source these issues as a lack of sufficient funds to support the demand for services. But again, the question remains. Just who are the women that are being turned away?

In 2016, a study was conducted by The Honoring Families Initiative, subset of

Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. They found some predictable and maybe some not so predictable conclusions.

Surprisingly, they found there is a growing number of participants, plaintiffs and defendants, that are self representing in court actions.

Participants also represented a range of demographic characteristics. Figure 3 presents a detailed breakdown of self- represented litigant participant demographic characteristics.

Figure 3, Self-Represented Litigant Demographic Characteristics.

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IAALS Cases Without Counsel

This chart shows that largely self representation occurs most often by caucasians, and non hispanic, 67% women, and financially strapped, making under $40k-$20k per year.

And while the IAALS may possibly be concerned that lawyers are missing out on a future portion of the market share, is it fair to question, are legal aid services across the country cherry picking minority cases and turning away cases in the caucasian community?

Image: Source

Read This: Legal Aid Services Cry Poor: Deny Clients Access To Representation

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