This webinar for judges and court staff is co-sponsored by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Immigrant Women’s Advocacy Project, American University, Washington College of Law and is designed to provide information to judges and court staff about how state court proceedings and federal VAWA confidentiality protections intersect. VAWA confidentiality laws exist to part of U.S. immigration laws stop immigration related abuse, power and coercive control used by perpetrators to cut off access to justice by immigrant victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence and other crimes.
As the numbers of immigrant family violence victims accessing justice increases, state court judges need to understand the federal statutory protections afforded by Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) confidentiality to immigrant crime victims that helps keep victims, families and court staff safe. This 60-minute webinar will provide attendees with up to date information on VAWA Confidentiality’s protections, purpose, Department of Homeland Security policies and legislative history. Webinar attendees will be better able to: rule on discovery motions in family, criminal and civil cases; identify litigants who are crime victims eligible for VAWA confidentiality protection; and address the unique challenges in delivering access to justice for immigrant adult and child family and sexual violence victims in crisis who appear in state court.
VAWA Confidentiality Protections – Materials for Courts
Know Your Rights Brochures
DHS Infographic: Protection for Immigrant Victims (January 12, 2107)
Immigration Options for Victims of Crime – DHS Brochure
Multilingual Materials for Victims and Advocates
VAWA Confidentiality
VAWA Confidentiality Protections for Immigrant Crime Victims (Webpage) (February 23, 2017)
VAWA Confidentiality and Protections for Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence
Statute
VAWA Confidentiality: Statutes, Legislative History, and Implementing Policy (March 11, 2017)
Congressionally Mandated Implementing Policies
DHS Civil Rights Civil Liberties Complaint instructions for violation investigations
CRCL Complaint form (general use)
Memorandum: Non-disclosure and Other Prohibitions Relating to Battered Aliens: IIRIRA 384
Executive Office of Immigration Review EOIR: VAWA Confidentiality Procedures for Immigration Court
Training Materials
Family Court Bench Card on VAWA Confidentiality
Three Prongs of VAWA Confidentiality
Chapter 3.2: VAWA Confidentiality and Breaches of Confidentiality
Newsletter on VAWA Confidentiality
THIS PROJECT IS SUPPORTED BY GRANT NOs. 2016-TA-AX-K026 and 2015-TA-AX-K043 AWARDED BY THE OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. THE OPINIONS, FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS EXPRESSED BY PROGRAM FACULTY AND IN PROGRAM MATERIALS, INCLUDING CURRICULUM OUTLINES, POWERPOINT SLIDES, HANDOUTS, CONTENTS OF FOLDERS AND THUMB DRIVES, AND OTHER PROGRAM DOCUMENTS, ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.