Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:18:24.046Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Dignifying the Experience of Domestic Violence Survivors Seeking Legal Services

from II - What Legal Design Can Do

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2024

By
Morgan A. Wilson
Edited by
Miso Kim ,
Dan Jackson  and
Jules Rochielle Sievert
Miso Kim
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
Dan Jackson
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
Jules Rochielle Sievert
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
Get access

Summary

Using Northeastern University School of Law’s Domestic Violence Institute’s (DVI) virtual clinic as a case study, this chapter contends that service design methods can address systemic and pernicious access to justice issues that have a chilling effect on survivors seeking legal services. It details foundational information about domestic violence survivors and the work of the clinic pre-COVID-19, before detailing the danger, disruption, and delays that the public health measures and Court closures had on survivors’ lives. It then details the process and outcomes of a rapid-response service design intervention that quickly overhauled DVI’s operations and created a survivor-centered framework that remains in place today, tackling systemic and pernicious access to justice issues while simultaneously amplifying the voices, experiences, and needs of survivors.

Keywords

domestic violenceintimate partner violenceservice designdignityCOVID-19
Type
Chapter
Information
Legal Design
Dignifying People in Legal Systems
 , pp. 90 - 103
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansell, Ryan, and Mullins, John P.. 2021. “COVID-19 Ends Longest Employment Expansion in CES History, Causing Unprecedented Job Losses in 2020.” Monthly Labor Review, June 16. https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2021.13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, Charles. 2020. “COVID-19 State of Emergency.” Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Last modified June 15, 2021. www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-state-of-emergency#limits-on-gatherings-(archive)-.Google Scholar
Boston Planning & Development Agency. 2017. “Boston’s Top 5 Foreign Languages Spoken at Home, 2015.” Boston: Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center. Last modified 2017. https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:h989r7038.Google Scholar
Boston Planning & Development Agency Research Division. 2021. “Boston in Context: Neighborhoods 2015-2019 American Community Survey.” Boston Planning & Development Agency Research Division. Last modified 2021. www.bostonplans.org/getattachment/e2eb8432-ac72-4a7e-8909-57aafdfbecd9.Google Scholar
Campbell, Andrew M. 2020. “An Increasing Risk of Family Violence during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Strengthening Community Collaborations to Save Lives.” Forensic Science International: Reports 2 (April): 100089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsir.2020.100089.Google ScholarPubMed
Carey, Paula M. Chief Justice of the Trial Court. 2020. Trial Court Emergency Administrative Order 20-8: Trial Court Order Supplementing the Supreme Judicial Court Order Regarding Court Operations Under the Exigent Circumstances Created by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic. https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/826494/on1153169107.pdf.Google Scholar
Casey, John D. 2020. “Probate and Family Court Standing Order 2-20, as Amended Effective April 6, 2020.” State Library of Massachusetts. Probate and Family Court. Last modified April 6, 2020. https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/825963/on1151409488.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y.Google Scholar
Cense. 2021. “Concept Scenarios + Storyboards for Service Design.” Cense Ltd. (blog), October 19. www.cense.ca/storyboards-for-service-design/.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2022. “CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline.” David J. Spencer CDC Museum. Last modified March 15, 2023. www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html.Google Scholar
Deloitte, Datawheel, and Hidalgo, Cesar. n.d. “Data USA: Boston, MA Census Place.” Data USA. Accessed August 22, 2022. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/suffolk-county-ma.Google Scholar
Dooling, Shannon. 2020. “Advocates Fear Domestic Abuse Survivors Are ‘Trapped with Their Abusers’ during Pandemic.” WBUR, April 13. www.wbur.org/news/2020/04/13/coronavirus-domestic-abuse-violence-survivors-boston.Google Scholar
Fana, Marta, Pérez, Sergio Torrejón, and Fernández-Macías, Enrique. 2020. “Employment Impact of Covid-19 Crisis: From Short Term Effects to Long Terms Prospects.” Journal of Industrial and Business Economics 47, no. 3 (July): 391–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40812–020-00168-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frauendorf, Janine. 2007. Customer Processes in Business-to-Business Service Transactions. Berlin, Germany: Springer Science & Business Media.Google Scholar
Gibbons, Sarah. 2017. “Service Blueprints: Definition.” Nielsen Norman Group. Last modified August 27, 2017. www.nngroup.com/articles/service-blueprints-definition/.Google Scholar
Goldstein, Lisa S. 2005. “Becoming a Teacher as a Hero’s Journey: Using Metaphor in Preservice Teacher Education.” Teacher Education Quarterly 32, no. 1 (Winter): 7–24.Google Scholar
Henry, Meghan, Watt, Rian, Mahathey, Anna, Ouellette, Jillian, Sitler, Aubrey, Abt Associates, and The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 2020. The 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness. www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2019-AHAR-Part-1.pdf.Google Scholar
Kim, Miso. 2021. “A Study of Dignity as a Principle of Service Design.” International Journal of Design 15, no. 3 (December): 87–100.Google Scholar
Lee, Kaofeng. 2016. “Technology Abuse: It’s Still About Power & Control.” Women’s Media Center, February 10. https://womensmediacenter.com/speech-project/technology-abuse-its-still-about-power-control.Google Scholar
Mapping Police Violence, Inc. 2021. “2021 Police Violence Report.” The Official Mapping Police Violence Database. Edited by Samuel Sinyangwe. www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjn772modOAAxUUrYkEHQizCvgQjBB6BAgREAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpoliceviolencereport.org%2Fpoliceviolencereport2021.pdf%3F0&usg=AOvVaw3TSCh1fjlT2WfSuH9M1wm4&opi=89978449.Google Scholar
Massachusetts Department of Public Health. 2020. “Sexual and Domestic Violence Programs 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance.” Mass.Gov. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Last modified April 23, 2020. www.mass.gov/lists/april-2020-massachusetts-official-state-agency-resources-related-to-covid-19.Google Scholar
Miller, Megan Erin, and Flowers, Erik. 2017. “The Difference between a Journey Map and a Service Blueprint.” Practical by Design (blog), October 16. https://blog.practicalservicedesign.com/the-difference-between-a-journey-map-and-a-service-blueprint-31a6e24c4a6c.Google Scholar
Mineo, Liz. 2022. “‘Shadow Pandemic’ of Domestic Violence.” Harvard Gazette, June 29. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/06/shadow-pandemic-of-domestic-violence/.Google Scholar
National Low Income Housing Coalition. 2022. “Housing Needs by State: Massachusetts.” National Low Income Housing Coalition. Last modified 2022. https://nlihc.org/housing-needs-by-state/massachusetts.Google Scholar
Office of the Governor. 2020a. COVID-19 Order (2020-03-15): Order Temporarily Closing All Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools, March 15, 2020, State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections, COVID-19 Orders, available at https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/2e09e942-3873-4842-a413-cae622c5b5fb (last visited March 19, 2024).Google Scholar
Office of the Governor. 2020b. COVID-19 Order (2020-03-18): COVID-19 Order (2020-03-18): Order Temporarily Closing All Child Care Programs and Authorizing the Temporary Creation and Operation of Emergency Child Care Programs, March 18, 2020, State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections, COVID-19 Orders, available at https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/dacc1d21-29e6-44b2-b9cd-e9cb3d21b43c (last visited March 19, 2024).Google Scholar
Office of the Governor. 2020c. COVID-19 Order (2020-03-23): COVID-19 Order (2020-03-23): Order Assuring Continued Operation of Essential Services in the Commonwealth, Closing Certain Workplaces, and Prohibiting Gatherings of More Than 10 People, March 23, 2020, State Library of Massachusetts Digital Collections, COVID-19 Orders, available at https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/items/79553984-91bb-4576-82c5-3e4d9c3b87ce (last visited March 19, 2024).Google Scholar
Pickens, Josie. 2020. “Kassandra Jackson Was Seeking a Protection Order, Judge Assaulted Her Instead.” Essence Magazine, October 23. www.essence.com/news/kassandra-jackson-michael-bachman/.Google Scholar
Ronquillo, Roberto Jr. 2020a. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Boston Municipal Court. Boston Municipal Court Standing Order 3-20: Limiting In-Person Appearances in Boston Municipal Courthouses to Emergency Matters. www.mass.gov/boston-municipal-court-standing-orders/boston-municipal-court-standing-order-3-20-limiting-in-person-appearances-in-boston-municipal-courthouses-to-emergency-matters.Google Scholar
Ronquillo, Roberto Jr. 2020b. State Library of Massachusetts. Boston Municipal Court. Boston Municipal Court Standing Order 4-20: Limiting In-Person Appearances in Boston Municipal Courthouses to Emergency Matters. https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/825659/on1150889493.pdf.Google Scholar
Suffolk Law School Legal Innovation and Technology Lab. n.d.a. “Court Forms Online (MassAccess).” Accessed August 24, 2022. https://courtformsonline.org/.Google Scholar
Suffolk Law School Legal Innovation and Technology Lab. n.d.b. “The Document Assembly Line.” Accessed August 24, 2022. https://suffolklitlab.org/docassemble-AssemblyLine-documentation/docs/.Google Scholar
Zaidi, Leah. 2018. “How to Use the Hero’s Journey as a Design-Thinking + Foresight Tool.” NYC Design, October 28. https://medium.com/nyc-design/how-to-use-the-heros-journey-as-a-design-thinking-tool-c4901be5ce.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×