Domestic Violence Institute

Integral to the Domestic Violence Institute’s mission is a commitment to empowering clients and client communities so that they can articulate and advance their own legal strategies and resolutions—both in their individual cases and in advocating for changes in the legal system that will benefit all victims.

We do this by making our faculty, staff and students available to support clients in a wide range of community based advocacy groups and institutions—offering basic abuse prevention services to individual clients, expedited referrals of community group members to cooperating lawyers for legal representation in more complex matters, assistance in securing institutional and financial support, and the opportunity to participate in collaborative research and demonstration grants.

Upper-Level Opportunities through the Domestic Violence Clinic

Students in the Domestic Violence Clinic assist in the representation of victims of domestic violence in restraining order cases (209A) as well as victims of sexual assault in Harassment Order Cases (258E). Restraining orders in Massachusetts include a broad range of relief (including no abuse, stay away conditions, no contact conditions, home surrenders, child custody and child support), designed to help stop the violence or threats of future violence in a family or substantive dating relationships. The clinic also assists community-based domestic violence organizations in longer-term projects related to policy, programming and outreach.

Contact Us

The upper-level DV Clinic is running this fall, however representation is extremely limited. For general questions and support finding alternative legal services organizations, please visit DVILegal.org or contact Professor Hayat Bearat, interim director of the Domestic Violence Institute at h.bearat@northeastern.edu.

Support the Domestic Violence Institute

Integral to the Institute’s mission is a commitment to empowering clients and client communities so that they can articulate and advance their own legal strategies and resolutions—both in their individual cases and in advocating for changes in the legal system that will benefit all victims. We do this by making our faculty, staff and students available to support clients in a wide range of community based advocacy groups and institutions—offering basic abuse prevention services to individual clients, expedited referrals of community group members to cooperating lawyers for legal representation in more complex matters, assistance in securing institutional and financial support, and the opportunity to participate in collaborative research and demonstration grants. Donations can be made a giving.northeastern.edu/live/profiles/323-domestic-violence-advocacy-project.