Rights of Women, with Women's Aid England and Welsh Women's Aid, is monitoring the impact of the changes to legal aid and their impact on women affected by violence.
On 1 April 2013, legal aid will be removed for most family law cases. New rules will apply for women applying for legal aid in family law cases (such as child contact and divorce) where domestic violence is an issue. These women will have to provide specific forms of evidence that they have experienced violence.
As organisations working with women affected by domestic violence, we are concerned that this evidence criteria will restrict the number of women able to apply for family law legal aid and will leave many women without the ability to make safe and appropriate arrangements for themselves and their children when they separate from their abusive partners.
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your experiences will help us to demonstrate the impact of the legal aid changes.