Fighting Domestic Violence

Jewish Women International offers legal resources.

January 30, 2009

Eric Fingerhut
Washington Jewish Week

Tovah Kasdin prosecuted domestic violence cases for 4 1/2 years in Montgomery County, Md., but she “never had one battered Jewish victim” in all that time.

That wasn’t because Jewish women aren’t abused, she said. It was, in part, because Jewish women aren’t getting the legal assistance they need. Jewish Women International is trying to change that.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization’s Legal Project is designed to provide Jewish, and other, abused women with legal information and resources to deal with domestic violence.

The organization has launched a legal section on its Web site (jwi.org) and is creating the JWI Attorney Network to recruit and train attorneys nationwide to help women escape abusive relationships.

The network will refer lawyers to Jewish community organizations dealing with domestic abuse.

The project comes after JWI research found that legal representation was the greatest unmet need among Jewish abused women.

A survey of Jewish domestic violence programs around the country found that on-site legal assistance is provided by fewer than 20 percent of the organizations and more than 85 percent of those groups believe that legal services for abused women need to be improved and expanded.

“The results echoed what we suspected. There are many more requests for legal services than [organizations] can meet,” said Ms. Kasdin, JWI program manager.

Ms. Kasdin pointed out that many Jewish women don’t qualify for public legal services, but once they have left an abusive husband, they no longer have the means to pay for legal assistance.

In addition, many family law attorneys are not trained to deal with domestic violence legal issues.

Barbara Zakheim, executive director of the Washington area’s Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, said that finding qualified lawyers can be even tougher in Greater Washington area than nationally. The area’s three different jurisdictions mean that lawyers in Maryland, for example, often aren’t eligible to represent a victim in a Northern Virginia court.

Ms. Kasdin said JWI will be recruiting a network of family law attorneys and providing training in domestic violence issues via conference calls to enable these lawyers to work with Jewish domestic violence organizations in their own communities.

“The hope is over the next decade there will be a significant increase in the pool of attorneys trained and knowledgeable [enough] to take on [domestic violence] cases,” said JWI executive director Lori Weinstein.

The Web site’s new legal section is unique, said Ms. Kasdin, because it includes information on secular legal issues along with resources specifically for the Jewish community about get, or Jewish divorce, law—everything from one’s eligibility for a get to tips for choosing a beit din, a Jewish court.

“I see the Web site as the initial go-to place,” said Ms. Weinstein. “Anybody at any stage they’re at can go to the Web site and find information that is really empowering.”

JWI partnered on the site with womenslaw.org, which compiled the information on get law and has on its own site detailed information on domestic violence law in all 50 states and the District—from how to obtain a protective order to the process for filing for custody and visitation rights.

“They have a big readership [and having] information [available] in more places is better” for everyone, said Elizabeth Martin, executive director of womenslaw.org. “We’re really excited.”