NIJ study released on effect of counsel for DV victims
09/26/2016, Iowa, Pilot, Domestic Violence - Alleged Victim
A multi-year, collaborative study funded by the National Institute for Justice and operated by the University of Iowa and Iowa Legal Aid looked at the impact of legal representation in protection order, custody, child support, and dissolution cases on the “safety, psychological well-being and economic self-sufficiency outcomes for women who experienced IPV…”
The report, “The Longer-Term Influence of Civil Legal Services on Battered Women,” found the following.
After being provided counsel in protection order, custody, child support, and marriage dissolution cases, women reported:
- Decrease in physical violence (a decrease of around 75%).
- Decrease in symptomatic responses to traumatic stressors, including intrusive thoughts, avoidant behaviors, hyperarousal, and depressive symptoms.
- Decrease in difficulty living on their current income and decrease in number of assistance resources used.
- Increase in monthly income.
- Increase in adequacy of family resources (between Wave 1-3).
