Survivor-Defined Advocacy in the Civil Protection Order Process
Survivor-Defined Advocacy in the Civil Protection Order Process
Feminist Criminology, Ahead of Print.
This study examines how lay legal advocates meet petitioners’ extralegal and legal needs during the protection order process using survivor-defined advocacy. We conducted interviews with 20 lay legal advocates and identified four ways in which advocates provided services consistent with survivor-defined advocacy, including court accompaniment, safety planning, meeting petitioners’ extralegal needs, and centering the survivor as the decision-maker. We discuss our results in light of previous research on survivor-defined advocacy and describe the implications in the context of current domestic violence law and policy, including the need to enhance lay legal advocates’ ability to provide survivor-defined approaches in their services.
This study examines how lay legal advocates meet petitioners’ extralegal and legal needs during the protection order process using survivor-defined advocacy. We conducted interviews with 20 lay legal advocates and identified four ways in which advocates provided services consistent with survivor-defined advocacy, including court accompaniment, safety planning, meeting petitioners’ extralegal needs, and centering the survivor as the decision-maker. We discuss our results in light of previous research on survivor-defined advocacy and describe the implications in the context of current domestic violence law and policy, including the need to enhance lay legal advocates’ ability to provide survivor-defined approaches in their services.
John Costello