By Stacey Sarver | WomensLaw Director
WomensLaw is the first and only free, legal resource for survivors of domestic & dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking that offers safety and legal information and resources in "plain language" in both English and Spanish. We are dedicated to empowering survivors and their advocates to make informed decisions about their options, safety, and legal remedies.
On October 24, 2017, we re-launched WomensLaw.org with a whole new look and new features such as a vlog series that explains U visas. And it is now mobile-friendly too!
From August 1, 2017 to October 31, 2017, 322,957 people accessed the life-saving information that is housed on WomensLaw.org.
In the past three months (August through October 2017), we worked directly with 656 victims, survivors, and their friends, advocates, or family members through our Email Hotline. This unique hotline offers victims a direct line to ask a question of our attorneys and volunteers, who specialize in domestic violence and the law. We respond to every request as quickly as possible, but take time to respond thoughtfully and include individualized resources and information. We frequently correspond back and forth with the women and men who write in, and many are grateful for our assistance and support, as below:
“Thank you for your kind words and thoughts. More importantly, for your information. I was lost and discouraged about the process, but you made things clear for me. I’ll now make an effort to get more specifics on my case and take further action to protect myself from future abuse. Thank you.” (WomensLaw Email Hotline response, October 2017)
And:
“Thank you so much for writing back to me. I read your email at 7:30 am, right when I woke up, a few days ago. I have read it several times since as it has helped me to stay focused and believe in the decision that I have made. Thank you again for writing back, it means a lot right now.” (WomensLaw Email Hotline, September 2017)
We answer questions and provide our expertise on a wide range of topics - including custody, divorce, relocation, and more. Often, victims or their loved ones are writing in to us to get some basic legal information about their situation when they cannot find legal representation. Although we do not provide legal advice, we can explain relevant laws that may help the victim to make an informed decision.
It is especially rewarding when someone tells us that we explained the information in a way that was easy to understand and that will help them move forward. Here is one such reply that we received on the Email Hotline:
“Thanks for your email! I’m still deciding how I want to move forward, but understanding the situation as clearly as possible has been very helpful to me in terms of processing it. In any case, thanks again for your help! It definitely helped point me in the right direction.” (WomensLaw Email Hotline response, September 2017)
Thank you for supporting WomensLaw and the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV).
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