Posted November 3, 20219:16 am
By Guest Columnist, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND -- For many, being stuck at home by the pandemic shutdowns of 2020 was a depressing inconvenience. For some, it was a financial hardship. For too many victims of domestic violence, it imposed a much higher cost: a loss of hope.
Reaching out for help can be difficult for domestic-abuse victims for a lot of reasons, including not having a safe place or moment to make a phone call, access resources or go to a shelter. It’s critical for victims to be able to quickly and safely get the help they need when they need it.
Knowing the pandemic shutdown was leaving victims more trapped than ever, advocates for domestic violence victims started talking in the summer of 2020 about a way to help.
Working with the Ohio Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Ohio Legal Help designed an online tool that provides a new path for domestic violence victims to seek help. Now, victims can go to the Ohio Legal Help website (ohiolegalhelp.org/) to fill out the forms to obtain a domestic-violence or dating-violence civil protection order.
The tool was built with the needs of domestic violence victims in mind. Simple, clear instructions explain how to create a “My OLH” account and complete the necessary forms and file them with the court. The site is secure, confidential and easily accessible on smartphones, tablets and computers. A person can work on the forms whenever circumstances allow — such as in the middle of the night or when the abuser is away — and can stop and restart as many times as it takes to complete the forms. And in case the abuser unexpectedly appears, a “safety exit” button redirects to a benign site but saves the user’s progress.
Unfortunately, the need has never been greater for this lifeline. A December article in The New England Journal of Medicine referred to intimate partner violence during COVID-19 as “a pandemic within a pandemic.” In February of this year, TIME Magazine reported that “when there’s little to no time apart, such abuse can grow worse, quickly.”
Ohio Legal Help was launched in 2019 with the mission to provide civil legal help to low-income, underserved and vulnerable populations. OhioLegalHelp.org provides information online to help people with legal problems, including family, housing, debt and education issues. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio Legal Help has assisted over 700,000 users.
As Ohioans approach another winter, family tensions may increase because of weather-related confinement, holiday stress and other factors. In an ideal world, no one would face violence at home. For those who do feel trapped in an abusive relationship, this new tool from Ohio Legal Help offers the beginning of a way out.
David Kutik, who is retired from the Jones Day law firm, where he was a partner in the firm’s litigation practice, is an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law and the board president of Ohio Legal Help.
-
Read the story at cleveland.com: New online tool provides 24/7 help to domestic violence survivors: David Kutik - cleveland.com