How can the legal system help victims of domestic violence?

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When individuals recognize the abuse in their lives, they frequently reach out to others for help. Victims of abuse may appeal to friends, family, doctors, counselors, Children and Youth workers, Transitions, law enforcement, the courts, etc. or any combination thereof for assistance in ending the violence. Transitions regularly receives referrals from these various sources to provide one of our many services–Legal Advocacy.
What does a Legal Advocate do? Simply put… ‘Trained staff provide clarification of the legal process and transactions, assist clients in filing Protection From Abuse (PFA) Orders and accompany victims to court hearings’ (Transitions, 2011). In reality legal advocates provide multiple services in addition to explaining legal options, assisting with paperwork and accompanying to hearings. We also talk about the violence, discuss safety planning with victims, and make referrals to other agencies, which can provide services specific to individuals needs e.g. a safe place to live, a job to support themselves, replacement of household and personal items. The ability for people to move on and access other services often hinges on being able to get away from or to remove abuse.
A quick search of the PFA Database (PFAD0, which is run by the Pennsylvania State Police) and a careful count of the cases, reveals that from January 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012—a nine month period, 341 people filed for 351 PFAs in Snyder, Union, and Northumberland counties in order to do just that-remove violence from their lives. Comparing counties relative to the number of people filing per 1,000 residents, less than 1 in 1,000 filed in Union county, about 1 in 1,000 filed in Snyder county, and almost 3 in 1,000 people filed in Northumberland county, which does have the largest population of the SUN area. The proportions remain the same for the number of PFAs filed per 1,000 residents except in Northumberland county, which had almost 4 PFAs filed for every 1,000 people.
These numbers may seem negligible but represent only a fraction of people, who may be in need of safety at home, at work, at school and in the community. People may not know they are eligible to file for Protection From Abuse or may not even know such a things exists in Pennsylvania. For more information about safety and legal options for yourself or someone you care about, who is experiencing domestic violence, call Transitions at 1-800-850-7948 and ask to speak with a Legal Advocate.
PFA stats (January 1, 2012-September 30, 2012):
County                                    Population*  # People Filing         # PFAs Filed
Snyder                                    39,819                         38                    38
Union                                     44,817                         33                    33
Northumberland                     94,558                         270                  280
TOTALS:                                179,194                       341                  351
Other Counties (for comparison)  Population*  # PFAs Filed
Lycoming                                            116, 747                      207
Mifflin                                                            46,858                         35                   
Juniata                                                           24,400                         11                   
*population estimates based on US Dept of Commerce, US Census Bureau 2011 data (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/42119.html) 


 contributed by Tara R., Legal Advocate

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