SafeHouse’s Legal Advocacy Program is designed to provide
assistance and support to survivors of domestic violence and
sexual assault as they go through the criminal or civil legal
system. This includes: matters involving criminal charges
against the batterer; matters involving criminal charges against
the survivor; obtaining and enforcing personal protection
orders; pursuing divorce and child custody issues; landlord/tenant
issues; and other matters.
The Legal Advocates do not act as attorneys for survivors,
although at times the positions are filled by staff that have
obtained their law school degrees and/or have been licensed
as attorneys. All Legal Advocates are extensively trained
and supervised.
SafeHouse Center provides legal advocacy services to survivors
of rape and sexual assault. A SafeHouse legal advocate is
available to survivors to discuss the legal process and to
give them information that will help survivors make informed
decisions about whether to engage in the court process. Legal
Advocates are available for court accompaniment to preliminary
exams, trials, and sentencings.
You can also arrange to meet
or speak with an advocate outside of court regarding how you
are feeling, the legal process and possible outcomes. An advocate
can inform you of your legal rights and, if necessary, advocate
on your behalf with police, prosecutors, and others in the
criminal justice system. If there is a conviction, a legal
advocate can work with you on writing a Victim Impact Statement,
which can be read or submitted at the sentencing hearing.
It is our priority to support you in whatever decisions you
make about engaging with the legal system and to assist you
in identifying your rights and options as a survivor.
Services provided by Legal Advocates include:
- Acting as a
liaison, as an “interpreter” of
legal jargon and proceedings, and a personal advocate for
survivors in court proceedings. This means explaining to
the survivor
as necessary what unfamiliar legal terms mean, letting
the survivor know what she can expect to happen next in
the legal
process, and advocating for certain actions or responses
with prosecutors, police, attorneys, probation officers
as requested
by the survivors;
- Accompanying the survivor to court proceedings
within Washtenaw County (and occasionally outside of
Washtenaw County), and
providing transportation to and from court as needed and
possible;
- Providing assistance in: filing for crime victims’ compensation,
preparing victim impact statements for sentencing, and preparing
applications for Personal Protection Orders;
- Providing technical assistance to police, prosecutors,
judges, probation officers, and/or attorneys (consistent
with confidentiality) regarding dynamics of domestic violence
and sexual assault, safety planning, etc.
- Maintaining records of all survivor
contact and court activity, compiling and entering data
into a database for statistical
reporting and analyses.
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