Preventing and Responding to Domestic and Sexual Violence in Courthouse Workplaces – December 2018

Preventing and Responding to Domestic and Sexual Violence in Courthouse Workplaces AOPC Regional Training December 2018

This AOPC Regional Training is supported by Subgrant No. 26422-3, awarded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC). The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed within this program and materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of PCCD, the AOPC or the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

Roadmap •Welcome • About Faculty, Workplaces Respond & NJIDV • Seminar Learning Objectives • Logistics & Accessibility • Participant Introductions • Ground Rules & Self-Care

About Faculty, Workplaces Respond & NJIDV

Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence: A National Resource Center (Workplaces Respond) educates and builds collaborations among workplace and non-workplace stakeholders – employers, worker associations, unions, and anti-violence advocates – to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual violence and harassment, trafficking, stalking, and other exploitation impacting workers and the workplace.

The National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence (NJIDV) offers education programs to enhance skills in handling criminal and civil cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and stalking. These hands-on, interactive workshops offer information on the dynamics of violence, abuse, and related issues, as well as practical advice from experienced professionals on how to address these issues fairly and effectively. 3

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Seminar Learning Objectives

As a result of this seminar, participants will be better able to: • Assess their current knowledge of gender-based violence and its impact on workers and the workplace; • Recognize when coworkers and courthouse visitors may be experiencing, or perpetrating, domestic or sexual violence; • Identify best practices in addressing domestic and sexual violence in the courthouse workplace; and, • Identify strategies and leadership opportunities to enhance a culture of support and justice by promoting safer and more equitable courthouse workplaces.

Logistics & Accessibility • Schedule, Breaks & Lunch • Location of facilities • Microphone use • We’re here to help!

Participant Introductions

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Ground Rules & Self-Care

Large Group Discussion

• Why do courthouse workplaces have a stake in issues of gender-based violence and harassment?

This project is supported by Grant No. 2015-SI-AX-K002 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed on this site or in any materials on this site, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. 8

Small Group Discussion

Consider courthouse stakeholders in the following contexts: • How would an experience with violence impact them in a courthouse workplace? • How would an experience with violence impact others who interact with them in a courthouse workplace?

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Video

Large Group Discussion

• What forms of violence were mentioned in the video? • How would these forms of violence affect someone’s ability to work in or visit a courthouse? • What about a perpetrator -- how would their ability to work in or visit a courthouse manifest?

GBV Continuum: Escalating Violence

Suggestive Looks Unwelcome Advances Cat Calls Verbal Harassment Sexist Comments Obscene Communications Inappropriate Jokes Incivility Isms: Class / Race / Ability Emotional Abuse Homophobia Quid Pro Quo

Adapted from STAR (Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response)

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GBV Continuum: Escalating Violence

Peeping Legal Abuse Flashing Economic Abuse Stalking Physical Violence Cyberstalking Sexual Assault Public Humiliation Rape Groping Homicide

Adapted from STAR (Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response)

R-R-R-R • Recognize o These issues impact all workplaces, and many workers • Respond o Consider confidentiality, awareness-raising activities and events, trauma-informed education, training, and policies • Refer o You do not have to be the expert • Re-Engage o Remind survivors that they are not alone; re-engage coworkers and bystanders in the solutions 15

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Best Practices in Addressing Domestic & Sexual Violence

As a result of this segment, participants will be better able to: • Describe trauma-informed principles; • Determine appropriate ways to uphold survivor confidentiality and safety; and • Practice responding to common scenarios of domestic and sexual violence in the courthouse setting using human-centered, trauma- informed principles.

Video

Trauma-Informed Principles Realize the impacts of trauma • Safety

• Trustworthiness & Transparency Recognize the signs of trauma • Peer Support • Collaboration & Mutuality Respond in a trauma- • Empowerment, Voice & Choice informed way • Cultural, Historical & Gender Issues

Resist Re- traumatization

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Intersections

Prevention & Intervention

Disrupt Support

Confront

Video

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Prevention & Intervention

Disrupt Support

Confront

Break

Small Group Activity: Scenario 1 Denise has worked with you in the Clerk’s Office for the past five years. You never heard of her having any performance issues, and you think she does her job well. You recently noticed that Denise seems distracted at work, though. She has started making mistakes and missing deadlines. You have overheard other coworkers saying that Denise’s husband frequently calls to check-in on her during the work day and has even stopped by the courthouse several times. • Would you respond? If so, how? • Would your response be different if you were Denise’s supervisor?

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Small Group Activity: Scenario 2

Chris, who you supervise, visits your office to request time off. You reflect that Chris has recently increased his requests for time off and has exhausted all of his available leave. When you mention that he has no more available leave, Chris shares with you that his ex-boyfriend has been stalking him, including lurking around the courthouse. Chris says he might need a protection order. • How would you respond? • How would you balance Chris’s safety and privacy needs?

Small Group Activity: Scenario 3 You witness Constancia, a new coworker assigned to the Clerk’s Office filing window, having a lively conversation with a visitor making a filing. The visitor reaches over the counter and touches Constancia’s ear while appearing to compliment their earrings. Constancia becomes visibly uncomfortable. You hear the visitor say: “Whatever Carl, or whatever you call yourself these days. If you don’t want compliments, then don’t start wearing earrings and trying to look like a girl.” Constancia finishes the visitor’s filing and rushes off to take a break, crying. • How would you characterize what happened to Constancia? Would you respond? • Would your response differ if the visitor was present at the courthouse regularly (e.g., an attorney, judge, police officer) 26

Small Group Activity: Scenario 4 Karen has returned to work after three months of maternity leave. On her first day back, everyone gathers around to look at pictures of her newborn. A colleague comments “My, with how big your breasts have gotten you must be producing jugs of milk! No wonder he’s so chubby!” Karen laughs it off, saying that her child is always hungry. Later that week, you hear that same colleague commenting to Karen that she is “swelling up” and “it must be time to go to the nursing mother’s room.” Karen crosses her arms over her chest, uncomfortably, says yes, and walks away. • Would you respond? If so, how? Would the gender of the colleague who made the comments make any difference? • Would your response differ if you were a supervisor?

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Large Group Discussion • How might your professional role, personal experiences, and identities impact your responses? • How might your courthouse’s culture and available resources impact your responses? • What steps can you take to address such impacts in order to respond in a trauma-informed, victim/survivor centered way?

Lunch

Large Group Discussion

• What do you think of when you hear the term “court culture?”

Material from the Enhancing the Court process for Domestic Violence Litigants through an award granted by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) and project partners the National Council for Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the Battered Women’s Justice Project (BWJP), and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), developed a comprehensive curriculum on domestic violence fundamentals specifically targeting court staff. This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-TA-AX-K013, 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 binders and CD-ROMs, 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. 30

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Implementing Procedural Justice Though Court Culture • Court culture is akin to any type of workplace culture: it affects the way the organization runs itself and how things get done, including overall and individual staff performance • Court culture involves the day-to-day operations of the court, i.e., docket management, communication, safety, technology, etc.

Implementing Procedural Justice Though Court Culture • All court staff contribute to court culture, though often it’s thought that judges and court administration establish the tone which trickles down to all employees • Court culture includes access to justice: the right or wrong attitude can change a litigant’s entire experience and their ability to access justice • Court culture varies by jurisdiction and courthouse, and can work for certain litigants and may not work for others

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Video

Large Group Debate

• Group 1: What incidents in the video promoted procedural justice? How? • Group 2: What incidents in the video undermined procedural justice? How?

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Tenets of Procedural Justice & Impact on Domestic Violence Cases

Access to Justice & Procedural Justice

• Procedural justice involves litigant perceptions about how they were treated and whether they view the process as fair and impartial • Procedural justice is a key component to the much broader access to justice considerations and challenges discussed earlier

NACM’s Core Competencies & Procedural Justice • Purposes and responsibilities: Enables courts to promote justice and provide an impartial forum • Public trust and confidence: Facilitates public perceptions of justice and deters criminal behavior • Leadership: Court staff can cultivate leadership philosophy by practicing procedural justice as a model for others as it allows the court to fulfill its purposes and responsibilities

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What is Procedural Justice

• The perception that you are being treated with respect and your concerns are being taken seriously • It is the very essence of justice and the justice system: procedural justice is about due process and allowing litigants their day in court • It impacts a victim’s willingness to view the court as a resource and the respondent’s willingness to comply with orders

Tenets of Procedural Justice

• Voice: Litigants have an opportunity to be heard • Respect: Litigants are treated with dignity and respect by judges, attorneys, and court staff • Neutrality: Litigants perceive that the decision-making process is unbiased and trustworthy • Understanding: Litigants understand the case outcome, their rights, and what is expected of them in order to comply with court orders • Helpfulness: Litigants perceive that court actors have an interest in their needs and their personal situation

Small Group Discussion: Litigant Experiences

• What do you think is confusing to litigants about the court process? What are the most frequently asked questions? • What are some ways in which litigants may have felt disrespected and/or ignored by the Court? • What are some ways litigants challenge staff? What challenges are specific to domestic violence cases?

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Why Should You Care?

The court experience can be more influential than the actual case outcome

Procedural justice: Outcome fairness: People value the Outcome favorability: People can accept fairness of the process People like to win! losing if they feel that that led to the outcome they were treated fairly

Why Should You Care?

• Research demonstrates that procedural justice promotes compliance, improves public trust, and reduces recidivism – all significant factors in promoting safety in domestic violence cases • Respondents are more likely to respect and adhere to court orders even when they “lose” a case if there was procedural justice present and the court process appeared fair

Public Perception

• Every staff person in the court can contribute to the perception of fairness based on their treatment of litigants as well as the policies and procedures they promote • Some litigants may already have low confidence in the legal process • Promoting principles of procedural justice toward those individuals may have a beneficial impact on their future perception of the justice system

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Learning Points

What Gets in the Way of Procedural Justice? • Procedural justice can work to alleviate many of the challenges faced by both litigants and staff in their interactions and experiences in court, including issues stemming from trauma, bias, and barriers to access • While the tenets of procedural justice seem simple in theory, courts often face challenges in adhering to those tenets in practical and effective ways

Learning Points

Procedural Justice & Domestic Violence • Domestic violence cases involve specific challenges, which the principles of procedural justice may help to address • High levels of risk (of further violence and lethality) undermines victim safety and heightens the need for compliance with court orders

Learning Points

Procedural Justice & Domestic Violence • High rates of self-represented litigants can compromise victim safety due to lack of understanding around the legal process o Lack understanding about how to present their case o Difficulty understanding the conditions of a court order, what is expected of them, or how to access resources o 61% of litigants in civil cases are without counsel – even higher in DV cases

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Learning Points

Procedural Justice & Domestic Violence • Trauma impacts victim behavior and may affect how victims perceive their court experiences • Building trust with litigants in domestic violence cases through the tenets of procedural justice works to ensure victim safety throughout the legal proceeding, and offender accountability with court orders

Small Group Discussion: Implementing Procedural Justice At your tables, discuss your assigned tenet of procedural justice and think about how various aspects of your role incorporates that tenet to overcome challenges and enhance court culture • What are strategies to enhance this tenet of procedural justice in your role and practice? • What about strategies to enhance this tenet system-wide?

Learning Points Court Culture & Procedural Justice • Enhancing Victim Safety: If courts are perceived as legitimate and trustworthy, victims are more likely to access help and request protective orders • Reducing Trauma: Efforts to improve perceptions of fairness may reduce anxiety and the risk of re-traumatization • Aiding Self-Represented Litigants: By focusing on increased understanding, self-represented litigants may be better equipped to represent themselves • Promoting Accountability: As an evidence-based practice, procedural justice has been shown to increase compliance and reduce offending with a range of defendants, including those charged with violent felonies 51

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Learning Points

Court Culture & Procedural Justice • Court staff might not be able to perform outreach and improve relationships with entire communities but you can work in your individual role to enhance procedural justice • Significantly, staff should be managing the impact of work re: secondary trauma

What You Can Do

• Promote procedural justice in staff’s everyday interactions with litigants • Foster a more encouraging environment for litigants to pursue legal relief • Assess the current culture of your courthouse through a victim-centered lens, both inside and outside of courtrooms

What You Can Do

“We should treat each encounter between the citizens and the police, courts, and other legal actors as a socializing experience – a teachable moment – that builds or undermines legitimacy.” - Tom Tyler, Yale

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Assessing Risk & Enhancing Courtroom Safety

Outside of Court Eva Brown and Daniel Green are in the process of a divorce. Eva was previously granted a temporary civil order of protection against Daniel, which has been extended numerous times throughout the divorce proceeding. She also has a temporary custody order for their 4-year-old child, Alex. After she left Daniel with Alex, Eva stayed with her brother until she was able to find her own apartment. She requested that her new address be redacted from any court documents so that Daniel could not find her. The judge ordered Eva and Daniel to have her brother do the exchange for Daniel’s visitation. The protection order also orders Daniel to stay away from Eva’s workplace, Alex’s school, and any family members. Recently, Eva was at home and repeatedly heard loud banging on the door and shouting. Anxious and trying to calm down a crying Alex, she called the police, but no one was there by the time they arrived. Law enforcement later spoke with Daniel, who denied even knowing where Eva lived. 56

Assessing Risk & Enhancing Courtroom Safety

• What is Daniel’s level of dangerousness and why?

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Clerk’s Office

• Eva decides to go to court to see if she can get more information on her case.

Assessing Risk & Enhancing Courtroom Safety

Large Group Discussion

• What is the level of danger and why? • Could court staff do more in their role to respond?

Courtroom

• Eva and Daniel are now in court for a status hearing. While neither party has an attorney, Eva has linked up with an advocate from a local culturally-specific service provider.

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Assessing Risk & Enhancing Courtroom Safety

Large Group Discussion

• What is the level of danger and why?

Assessing Risk & Enhancing Courtroom Safety

Large Group Discussion

• What ways can court house safety be enhanced in domestic violence cases? • For litigants? For Staff?

Domestic Violence Factors Associated with Increased Risk of Lethality • Increase in physical violence • Jealousy over the past year • Substance Abuse • Access to a gun • Abuse During Pregnancy • Use or threatened use of lethal • Child Abuse Threats weapon • Child that is not the biological child • Threats of suicide or murder of the defendant/respondent • Separation within the past year • Stalking • Unemployment • Avoidance of Arrest • Strangulation • Victim Belief that offender is capable of killing him/her 63

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Limitations & Benefits of Risk Assessment

Limitations Benefits • Retrospective rather than • Development of common prospective studies language across systems • Propensity towards “false • Assists in the prioritization of positives” limited resources • Risk is dynamic rather than • Assists with safety planning static strategies - may saves lives • Issues with bias

Research demonstrates that victims don’t overestimate risk, but they might underestimate it

1 2 3

Risk Assessment Help the victim Allow courts to Tools can give understand the prioritize courts and risk advocates more information

Risk Assessment Tools • Assessments can inform decisions on prosecution, conditions of release, and sentencing, as well as conditions on orders for civil cases • Victim confidentiality and victim safety are of paramount importance • Professional conducting risk assessment must be trained • If a judge or court staff hear evidence from a victim about risk-related behavior by the abuser, all attempts should be made to provide the victim with advocate services

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Risk Assessment Tools

Questions to Ask: • Who is doing the Assessment? • With whom? • For what purpose?

Why is This Important to Your Work?

• Court security should be informed of specific cases and trained on general cases with a heightened lethality risk • Courthouse policies and procedures can be developed to increase coordination between different agencies • Advocates who work in a courthouse can administer risk and lethality assessment protocols to victims who appear for protective orders or with the offenders for criminal cases to determine whether the victim is at high risk and safety plan accordingly

Courthouse Safety for Litigants: Creating a Safe Space

Provide a physically safe and welcoming environment for litigants in the courthouse and the surrounding area • Separate waiting areas • Remote applications & participation • Courthouse atmosphere free of intimidation – no threats! • Courtroom etiquette • Victim exits before abuse w/security • Confidentiality safeguards 69

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