Workshop Details B – OVW LAV Conference 2016

   Workshops B Monday, October 24 3:00 – 4:00 PM B-1 Improving Legal System Access for LGBTQ Survivors of Intimate Partner & Sexual Violence Andrew Sta. Ana, Day One Anya Lynn-Alesker, American Bar Association Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence Organizational LGBTQ inclusivity demands more than putting up Rainbow Flags around your office. From case assessment to filing to litigation, advocacy for LGBTQ survivors requires intention, action and evaluation. This workshop will provide a space for participants to learn of some promising practices and to engage others working to further develop their personal and organizational LGBTQ service capacity. B-2 Working with Survivors with Disabilities Amy Judy, VERA Institute This workshop will prepare legal advocates and attorneys to apply holistic and accessible considerations to advocacy, assess for and mitigate key accessibility barriers, increase your comfort, confidence, and commitment to creating accessible and welcoming interactions with victims/survivors with disabilities and Deaf victims/survivors, and identify collaborative resources instrumental to inclusive legal assistance to victims. B-3 Workplace Violence Ripped From the Headlines: Case Studies Lisalyn Jacobs, CEO, Just Solutions This workshop will use recent incidents of sexual and domestic violence covered in the media, to unpack the issues and challenges encountered by survivors of violence in the workplace. It will also highlight ways that advocates can help survivors navigate the workplace, as well as the types of recourse survivors might have. B-4 Consumer Rights for Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors Initiative Erika Sussman, Center for Survivor Agency and Justice This workshop will present the work of the Consumer Rights for Domestic and Sexual Violence Survivors Initiative, an OVW-funded TA project that enhances economic justice for survivors by building the capacity of and building partnerships between domestic violence and consumer lawyers and advocates across the nation. Drawing from the Initiative's work, we will focus on individual, organizational, and systems change strategies to address the critical link between safety and economic security. Faculty will highlight the groundbreaking work of the Consumer Rights Demonstration Sites and share the newly released Guidebook on Consumer and Economic Civil Legal Advocacy for Survivors, offering concrete opportunities for identifying and addressing an array of consumer and economic civil legal issues facing survivors. B-5 Seeking Safety Across Borders: Battered Mothers and the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction Sudha Shetty, University of CA, Berkeley, Director, Hague Domestic Violence Project Battered mothers are sometimes forced to flee with their children across international borders, seeking safety in the United States. Their abusers, the left-behind parents in these cases, may file a petition under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction for return of the children. These cases are filed in U.S. courts, with resources focused on prompt return of children wrongfully removed from their habitual residence. Fleeing mothers are often viewed by courts as "abductors" or "wrongdoers" without the context of the abuse or an understanding of how domestic violence is relevant in Hague Convention cases. This workshop is designed to introduce attorneys to the Hague Convention and provide attorneys with working knowledge on the intersection of domestic violence and the Convention. The goal of this workshop is to enable attorneys to spot a potential Hague Convention case before it is filed, better enabling them to prepare themselves and their clients for the case if it happens.