Access to Legal Services in Women's Shelters
Date
2015-12-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family.
Abstract
This study examines access to legal services among clients of three Calgary-area domestic violence shelters. The study samples the views of staff and clients at three domestic violence shelters with the goals of improving understanding of clients' legal service needs, understanding the challenges clients attempting to access legal services encounter and making recommendations for improvement. The authors conclude that clients' service needs are complex and often involve legal problems, yet shelters face specific organizational barriers to coordinating legal services. The authors recommend that a further analysis be undertaken to examine the legal access patterns of women experiencing domestic violence, to assess the prevalence of the barriers identified in the study and to determine whether further barriers are present in other shelters.
Description
Keywords
family law, law, child abuse, family violence
Citation
Wright, A., & Bertrand, L. (2015). Access to Legal Services in Women's Shelters. (Rep.).Calgary, AB: Canadian Research Institutue for Law and the Family