LOUISIANA LEGAL SERVICES AND PRO BONO DESK MANUAL 2013

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
6. Housing
Up to 50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence.
15 Even if not “homeless,” victims of domestic violence and their children
often live in chronically unstable housing circumstances that contribute to
significant negative health and social outcomes. 16 Service providers for victims
report that it costs a victim about $5,000 for each housing relocation necessitated
by domestic violence. 17 In Louisiana, finding a new apartment and moving
can easily cost $1,500, without counting all the personal property the
abuser may destroy or the victim has to abandon. And even when a victim is
not fleeing from domestic violence, abusers sometimes force housing emergencies
by failing to pay the mortgage or rent, or causing the victim to be
evicted because of his conduct. Eviction for a lease violation can cause a subsidized
tenant to lose her rent subsidies for several years. For this reason,
victims in subsidized housing need special help to protect their housing rights.
7. Employment
Abusers often harass their victims at work or take other action to get
them fired. 18 Absences from work due to court appearances and abuse can
also lead to problems with employers. Job protection is essential to economic
independence from the abuser.
8. Public Benefits
A victim may need help with welfare, disability benefits and unemployment
compensation. Domestic violence is a hardship exemption from the 24
and 60 month limits on Family Independence Temporary Assistance (FITAP)
welfare.
9. Taxes
A battered woman should not file joint returns with her abuser because
she could incur unexpected tax liabilities. Abusers often keep their spouses
in the dark about financial information. Significant innocent spouse, injured
spouse, and equitable relief may be available to victims who face tax liabilities
caused by the abuser. Victims may also need help in securing their rights
to dependency exemptions and the Earned Income Credit, which can improve
their financial situation.
10. Consumer Debt
Economic independence can be supported by the reduction of consumer
debt through bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy strategies. 19
11. Immigration
An immigrant battered spouse who leaves her abuser may face deportation.
Abusers often fail to file ICE documents on spouses as a means of
coercion. She may, however, self-petition (file a petition in her own name)
the ICE for legal resident status or suspension of deportation. Legal Services
Corporation (LSC) attorneys may represent immigrant domestic violence victims
in domestic violence matters. 20
15
Chiquita Rollins et al., Housing Instability is as Strong a Predictor of Poor Health Outcomes as Level of Danger in an Abusive
Relationship, 27 J. INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 623, 625 (2012).
16
Id. at 635.
17
Barbara Hart & Erika Sussman, Civil Tort Suits and Economic Justice for Battered Women, Victim Advocate (Spring 2004),
available at http://www.bwjp.org/files/bwjp/articles/CivilTorts_EconomicJustice.pdf.
18
BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS, FEMALE VICTIMS OF CRIMES (1991). Abusers harass 74% of employed battered women at
work either in person or by phone. Id.
19
NAT’L CONSUMER LAW CTR., CONSUMER RIGHTS FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS (2006). The National Consumer Law
Center has a free Consumer Rights Screening Tool for Domestic Violence Advocates and Lawyers at its website nclc.org.
20
Immigration for Legal Aid Lawyers, § 1.3, infra.
(155)