Violence Against Women

Domestic violence occurs in all cultures and touches people of all races, ethnicities, and religions. It is a serious, preventable public health crisis affecting more than 32 million Americans. Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation and economic deprivation. Women are far more likely than men to be victims of domestic violence and, even worse, nearly 3 out of 4 of the murders committed by intimate partners have a female victim. The FBI reports that between 1976 and 1996, domestic violence claimed the lives of more than four women each day.

Many women fail to report their abusive partners due to the shame and fear associated with domestic violence. However, even with this dramatic under-reporting, domestic violence calls constitute approximately half of all violent crime calls to police departments. In Washington DC, 49% of the violent crime calls received by the police department in 2000 were for domestic violence incidents. Unfortunately, data indicates that even those who seek help from police may not be aware of how to secure a restraining order or how to find the resources to help themselves and their families.

At CWLC, we are creating innovative programs to help bring awareness, justice and expanded services to victims of domestic violence.

Murder at Home Project

Murder at Home is a groundbreaking effort to transform criminal justice, community and media responses to intimate murder and intimate violence to ensure that these crimes are taken seriously and addressed appropriately.  In October 2005, CWLC released the first volume of its policy report Murder at Home: An Examination of Legal and Community Responses to Intimate Femicide in California. The report chronicles important advancements that have been made to improve legal and community responses to domestic violence in California, assesses the current status of domestic violence response and prevention efforts, and makes recommendations for furthering existing efforts to respond to and prevent domestic violence and domestic violence homicide in California.

Habeas Project

Under state law, a limited number of battered women who are in prison for certain violent felonies, including murder of their abuser, may submit a petition for habeas corpus if they were prejudiced by the fact that expert testimony on battering and its effects was not presented during their original trial. CWLC works in collaboration with the USC Law School Post-Conviction Justice Project, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, and Free Battered Women to secure pro bono representation for incarcerated battered women who qualify for habeas relief under state law.

S.T.O.P. (School Training, Outreach and Prevention) Teen Dating Violence Project

The S.T.O.P. Teen Dating Violence Initiative is a statewide, public policy and education initiative to protect the health and safety of teens by ensuring that schools institute comprehensive policies, protocols, training and resources that enable their employees to effectively prevent and respond to complaints of teen dating and sexual violence against students.

Domestic Violence Advocate Legal Support Network

The Domestic Violence Advocate Legal Support Network promotes the capacity and sustainability of California’s battered women’s shelters by ensuring that they have access to ongoing, free legal support and services for matters relating to the management and operation of their organizations. As part of this project, CWLC conducts legal trainings for shelters throughout the state and is developing a legal manual for shelter directors and managers.

Two years ago, the Free Men’s Association attempted to sue Los Angeles area women’s shelters for not allowing men in the shelters. Although the lawsuit was eventually dismissed, CWLC organized a legal team to represent the shelters and later established the Adopt-An-Angel Program which matches shelter organizations with law firms that will provide them with ongoing pro bono legal assistance.

Teen Dating Violence

Domestic violence is not only found in adult relationships.  Teenagers in dating relationships often experience abusive and controlling behavior at the hands of their boyfriend or girlfriend.  These early experiences of abuse in intimate relationships can have devastating affects and can be a precursor for violence in adult intimate relationships.

Teen dating violence is a pattern of actual or threatened acts of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse, perpetrated by an individual against a current or former dating partner who is an adolescent.  It occurs in both heterosexual and same-sex relationships, and cuts across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic lines.  One in three teenagers will experience teen dating violence, and a recent Centers for Disease Control study found that one out of every eleven high school students reported being hit or slapped by their romantic partner.  Furthermore, it is estimated that one and a half-million high school students suffer from teen dating violence each year, and more than ten percent of teenagers report being sexually abused or coerced in a dating relationship. 

Teen dating violence can occur anywhere—in the home, at parties and other social events or the teen’s place of employment. However, because the abuse often happens at school and teen dating violence affects the school environment, teen dating violence is a school safety issue. Victims and batterers are more likely than their peers to bring weapons on to campus, and physical abuse occurs on school grounds in nearly half of abusive teen relationships.

California State Assembly Bill 589

To stop the epidemic of teen dating violence, The California Women’s Law Center is co-sponsoring a teen dating violence bill with Break The Cycle and Peace Over Violence. The legislation is being carried by California State Assembly Member Lloyd Levine (D- San Fernando Valley)

AB 589 amends California Education Code §32282 to expressly require that schools respond to incidents of teen dating violence and sexual violence between students on campus. The legislation creates a statewide task force to research teen dating violence, establish a model protocol for school response, and make recommendations to the Department of Education.  The bill provides standards for school response to dating violence on campus, and aids in preventing dating violence by training school employees and educating students.  It requires that schools maintain victims’ confidentiality when investigating or responding to a complaint of teen dating and/or sexual violence.  Importantly, AB 589 calls for school districts to collaborate with local dating violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault victim services organizations, which ensures that a school’s response to and education about teen dating violence is appropriately tailored to meet the needs of each community.