I received the following e-mail from a survivor a few weeks ago who wanted her experience to be heard. The recently posted article (posted below) regarding the abysmal quality of the U.S. court system goes hand in hand with this survivor’s battle against domestic violence.

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I can think of so many stories to write about and so much advice to give other victims of abuse from my own experience.  But I feel that I still have not fully healed to be able to venture into those dark memories again. But one thing I do want to speak about is how poorly my case was handled and how I felt almost wronged by the legal process.  Even now it is hard for me to go into full detail.

Many women, especially in our community, are too scared to report instances of abuse. I too was very scared for a while, but then one day realized that I could not allow fear to take hold of me and control my life any longer. 

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A recent report* released by the Voices of Women Organizing Project depicts how insufficient the U.S. court system is in dealing with domestic violence cases and bringing justice to survivors.

Some of the facts presented are extremely dishearterning:

• Family courts traumatize battered women and hand child custody to their abusers 37% of the time

• About 30% of women said they felt unsafe in the courtroom, and 40% felt unsafe in waiting areas.

• 67% of the women could not afford copies of court transcripts, leaving them unsure of how accurately the official records reflected the proceedings.

• About 15% said transcripts were not accurate.

Why are such conditions still present in our court system and what can we do to incite change?

*Article written by Alison Bowen from WeNews