Domestic violence strategy

About the strategy

Legal Aid Ontario's Domestic Violence Strategy aims to strengthen the capacity of lawyers,

frontline workers and management to better serve clients who have experienced domestic violence.

More about the DVS

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Making it easier for domestic violence survivors to get services

Last modified: August 6, 2015

LAO has launched this dedicated Domestic Violence Strategy page in the hopes of building a forum for our partners to share ideas in how we can all work together to help people who have experienced domestic violence and abuse.

It’s difficult for anyone who has been victimized by violence to reach out for help and figure out what to do, much less navigate the legal system. At Legal Aid Ontario, we recognize this and have prioritized support for this particularly vulnerable group.

Between 2005 and 2008, LAO partnered with the Barbra Schifler Commemorative Clinic in a training project to help frontline staff better identify and help domestic violence survivors.

The result: a set of protocols to help staff decide about to deliver the right services at the right time to women experiencing domestic violence. LAO’s current protocols to improve the overall accessibility and quality of legal aid services for this group include:

  • screening processes and appropriate training for intake staff to help them identify clients who have experienced domestic violence
  • appropriate triaging techniques, including a policy decision on the need for clients who have experienced domestic violence to be represented by lawyers
  • specific processes to respond to the unique needs of domestic violence survivors.

Since we implemented these protocols, LAO has added new services that allow low-income Ontarians to get the legal help that they need. Many clients, for instance, feel safe applying for legal aid on LAO’s toll-free line, instead of going to their local area office, potentially in full view of their community. The line received over 370,600 calls in 2013/14.

In addition, throughout 2013/14, LAO has been in touch with its many partners in the community in addition to the Barbra Schifler Clinic to ensure that Ontario is meeting this group’s legal needs. LAO has received valuable input, for instance, from Luke’s Place, Oasis Centre des Femmes, the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto, and METRAC.

LAO is now reviewing all of its existing and new client intake systems and legal service delivery mechanisms in light of this input to ensure the goals of its domestic violence protocols are being met.

We encourage you to share your thoughts, reports and papers. Please feel free to get in touch.