Events

Guest Speaker: Lotte Young Andrade, Warwick Law School

Title: (Work-In-Progress) 'Hang on a minute, this is the solicitor's job': The Role of Domestic Violence Advocates in Filling the Gaps Left by Legal Aid.

Abstract: This study investigates how domestic violence (DV) advocates have adapted the support that they provide for victim-survivors in response to the significant reduction in civil legal aid following the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012. Although LASPO introduced a “domestic abuse gateway” to facilitate legal aid access for victim-survivors with evidence of abuse, restrictive eligibility criteria have left many survivors without adequate legal support. While previous research has explored the broad impacts of legal aid restrictions on survivors, this paper offers a unique focus on the evolving practices within the DV charity sector. It examines how advocates have navigated systemic gaps by taking on expanded roles in evidence collection, witness statement preparation, and managing relationships with legal professionals. The findings are drawn from a triangulated dataset of 20 semi-structured interviews with DV advocates across England and the analysis of 58 annual returns, policy reports, and awareness-raising initiatives from the charities involved in this study.

This mixed-methods approach not only illuminates how advocates have adapted their practices, but also situates these adaptations within the historical trajectory of domestic violence charities- from their grassroots feminist origins in the 1970s to their current role as service providers. By exploring the strategies and challenges faced by DV professionals, this study underscores the critical but under-recognised role of charities in mitigating the impacts of legal aid reductions on victim-survivors. These insights raise broader questions about the intersection of state retrenchment and the growing reliance on the voluntary sector.