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The “Social Advocates”1 program was launched in 1999 to address the problem of domestic violence in Russia. The primary goal of the program is to fill gaps in available victim assistance and provide women in crisis with basic legal services. Specifically, the Social Advocates training program educates representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) about the Russian legal system and gives them practical skills in drafting simple legal documents, presenting information in court and working with representatives of the law enforcement system. With these basic tools, Social Advocates are able to offer concrete legal help to women in crisis.
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I. Background of the Social Advocates Program
The Social Advocates program was developed by the American Bar Association Central and European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA CEELI) in response to a specific legal environment that presented obstacles to women victims of domestic violence. Women in Russia had very limited resources at their disposal to assist them in leaving abusive situations. For example, Russia had no specific anti-domestic violence laws; only general criminal and civil law provisions could be applied. There were no dedicated staff among law enforcement agencies to work specifically with victims of domestic violence. As a whole, the legal community, both private lawyers and law enforcement, was uninvolved in offering assistance to victims of violence. Such a situation meant that most victims were required to navigate the legal system alone, or with the assistance of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
When the Social Advocates program began, NGOs were among the only entities offering concrete assistance to women in crisis. Crisis centers throughout Russia gave basic aid to women, generally in the area of psychological counseling, where State-sponsored assistance was limited or unavailable. In assessing the capacity of such NGOs to assist victims of domestic violence, however, CEELI learned that there was very little awareness on the part of NGO staff, or the legal community, of the remedies available to women. Victims were rarely counseled about their legal rights and it was not uncommon for the crisis centers that did offer legal aid to give inaccurate or incomplete information to victims.
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1 As used in this manual, the phrase “Social Advocates” refers generally to any person who works on behalf of another person to protect their rights. In English, “advocate” is a broad term which can be applied to both lawyers and non-lawyers. In Russian, however, the word “адвокат” usually refers to a lawyer with specific training to defend the interests of their clients court, somewhat comparable to the British “barrister.” Although this manual consistently uses the phrase “Social Advocates,” the meaning should be understood as comparable to the Russian “Социалные Защитники.”
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