According to a new study by the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University of Law, if domestic violence survivors have access to free or subsidized legal assistance, it could reduce the rates of domestic violence, WLTX reports.
Nancy Barton, executive director of nonprofit domestic violence organization Sistercare, says one of the main reasons domestic violence survivors stay in abusive relationships is because of a lack of financial resources needed in order to leave or prosecute.
Barton says that of the approximately 6,500 women and children her organization helps yearly, "there are probably 60–65 percent of that 6,000 we are seeing in court. Our family practice attorney represents under 200 survivors of domestic violence in the course of the year."
She hopes this new report (which also focuses on the social costs of domestic violence, such as the hours that battered women have to take off from work and the cost of injuries) will help Sistercare fundraise for more legal assistance for their clients, since it has been shown to be more cost-effective to provide that assistance to women than to continue to leave them with little affordable legal recourse.
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