WOMEN and children who suffer domestic abuse often struggle to access legal support, according to a charity that plans to set up a helpline so victims can get help from lawyers.
Scottish Women’s Aid wants to employ specialist domestic abuse solicitors to work on the proposed helpline, which will offer support to victims across Scotland. The Law Society of Scotland has said while it agrees with the proposal, it could be “near impossible to implement” without action from the Scottish Government.
Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive at Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “Women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse are told every day that justice applies to them, and they discover every day, through lack of access to vital services, that in fact it doesn’t.
“At Scottish Women’s Aid we have been hearing for decades about the difficulties women and children face in getting legal support and services when they need them.
“Workers in every one of our 36 services tell us horror stories of poor or no service – women representing themselves because they can’t afford a lawyer, children being treated as pawns by abusers in civil processes that routinely violate children’s rights, lawyers telling women not to mention the domestic abuse because sheriffs don’t want to hear about it, and then being accused of changing their story in subsequent proceedings.”
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She added for the victims of domestic abuse, the struggle to find appropriate support is “causing more harm and contributing to their continued suffering”.
Scott went on: “Despite political rhetoric promising systematic change, existing structures for delivery of justice in Scotland obstruct the change promised.” John Mulholland, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “Until the Scottish Government fully implements the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010, which would allow alternatives to traditional law firms, their plan to employ solicitors directly to give advice to survivors of domestic abuse will remain near impossible to implement.
“This is a piece of legislation that the Law Society is keen to see fully implemented, and we would be happy to work with Scottish Women’s Aid to demonstrate to government the impact of these alternative business structures not yet being available.”
Mulholland added that it is “vital” that there is a strong network of lawyers across the country capable of assisting in an array of areas of law. “However,” he said, “the number of legal aid providers is rapidly declining, mainly due to the bureaucracy and complexity of the system and the unsustainability of how legal aid is funded.”
The charity argues that women and children experiencing domestic abuse often struggle to access timely, affordable and competent legal advice under the current legal aid system in Scotland for numerous reasons, including complex financial situations, rural implications and legal aid not covering certain aspects of their cases.
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Researchers are currently working with local Women’s Aid groups to gather data on the legal issues faced by domestic abuse victims to develop the helpline.
Women and children who suffer domestic abuse often struggle to access legal support according to a charity that plans to set up a helpline so victims can get help from lawyers.
Scottish Women’s Aid wants to employ specialist domestic abuse solicitors to work on the proposed legal advice helpline, offering support to victims across Scotland.
The charity will begin the year-long trial, which is funded by The Legal Education Foundation, by gathering evidence they hope will support the new model focused on improving the legal services domestic abuse victims can access.
Lawyers would be based in a number of Women’s Aid groups across the country to run the helpline, serving all the charity’s Scottish branches.
However, the Law Society of Scotland said that although they agree with the “interesting” proposal, they warned it will prove “near impossible to implement” without action from the Scottish Government.
Dr Marsha Scott, chief executive at Scottish Women’s Aid, said: “Women, children and young people experiencing domestic abuse are told every day that justice applies to them, and they discover every day, through lack of access to vital services, that in fact it doesn’t.
“At Scottish Women’s Aid we have been hearing for decades about the difficulties women and children face in getting legal support and services when they need them.
“Workers in every one of our 36 services tell us horror stories of poor or no service - women representing themselves because they can’t afford a lawyer, children being treated as pawns by abusers in civil processes that routinely violate children’s rights, lawyers telling women not to mention the domestic abuse because Sheriffs don’t want to hear about it, and then being accused of changing their story in subsequent proceedings.
“The fact that women and children who have experienced domestic abuse struggle to access the support they need, at the appropriate time, is causing more harm and contributing to their continued suffering.
“Despite political rhetoric promising systematic change, existing structures for delivery of justice in Scotland obstruct the change promised.”
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