Articles & Toolkits

Organization: Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy
Resource Type: Article
Description: New York's civil and criminal legal systems place survivors and alleged abusers at risk of homelessness. This article explores transformative justice as an advocacy method for decriminalizing domestic violence, incorporating survivor anecdotes, a deep dive into the nuisance doctrine that often impacts landlords' willingness to rent to survivors, the pitfalls that orders of protection can present for housing rights, and recommendations to combat and mitigate risks.

Organization: BWJP
Resource Type: Report
Description: This memorandum discusses the relevance of the history of abuse to duress claims, the need for expert assistance, common barriers encountered by the defense, and relevant case law.

Organization: NCVC and Safety+Justice Challenge
Resource Type: Report
Description: Support groups provide needed space for survivors to garner support and resources. Yet it can be not easy to start a group from scratch, especially for individuals who are currently incarcerated. This resource identifies the successful markers and makings of implementing a support group for survivors who are incarcerated.

Organization: BWJP
Resource Type: Toolkit
Description: The Toolkit provides ideas, strategies, and techniques for addressing the needs and challenges related to making victims of battering charged with crimes visible and central in a community’s response to battering.

Organization: National Housing Law Project
Resource Type: Guide
Description: This Guide is designed for advocates working with or representing individuals with criminal records who are seeking access to federally assisted housing programs. The Guide describes the current state of the law with respect to the admission process in general and as it relates specifically to individuals with criminal records; the barriers these individuals face as they seek housing; and the process for challenging a denial. It also offers guidance on how advocates working with or representing individuals with criminal records can have an impact on local policies and practices.

Organization: National Reentry Resource Center
Resource Type: Toolkit
Description: Local reentry coalition leaders can use this toolkit as a go-to resource to take stock of where their reentry efforts are and how best to move forward. Part I of this toolkit, “Fundamentals of Reentry,” covers the essential elements of system change that are necessary to carry out an effective reentry strategy at the local level. Part II presents “Tools for Change” to help advance local reentry priorities through three fronts: linking and leveraging resources, changing policy and practice, and building broad community support.

Organization: Survived & Punished
Resource Type: Toolkit Appendix
Description: #SurvivedAndPunished: Survivor Defense as Abolitionist Praxis is a collection of tools, tips, lessons and resources developed through survivor experiences. This toolkit documents and reflects on the survivors/survivor defense committee movement work throughout generations. The work compiled within this resource has largely been led by Black women, women of color, immigrants and queer/trans people, who are so often erased from history.

Organization: Survived & Punished
Resource Type: Resource
Description: In 2021, survivors who have been criminalized for self-defense, along with a broad range of advocates and organizers engaged in defending survivor self-defense, convened to build a rich understanding of why survivor self-defense has not been protected in courts. This participatory research report offers a body of qualitative data produced through engaged dialogue and analysis among convening participants. Reflecting the collaborative approach to this research initiative, the report foregrounds survivor analysis, insights, and experiences through abundant use of direct quotations. Additionally, the report includes an overview of research and scholarship on the criminalization of self-defense in the context of gender-based violence as well as a brief overview of legal defenses used to defend survivors in court.

Organization: National Housing Law Project
Resource Type: Toolkit
Description: This toolkit is for organizers and advocates who are engaged in fair chance advocacy on a local level who are looking for guidance on the nuts and bolts of developing a fair chance policy. It draws heavily on our experience supporting local fair chance campaigns, particularly in northern California, and on input from advocates who have worked on fair chance campaigns in other states. We have been privileged to work with dedicated organizers and other groups focused on criminal justice reform and reentry, including many people directly impacted by the criminal justice system.

Organization: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Resource Type: Guide
Description: This guide, the toolkit and related materials are free and accessible to assist organizations, their staff and volunteers in using the Your Money, Your Goals Financial Empowerment Toolkit

Organization: SJP
Resource Type: Webpage
Description: This resource provides an easily accesible timeline of the events leading up to the signing of DVSJA in New York.

Organization: NCVC and Safety+Justice Challenge
Resource Type: Report
Description: Support groups provide needed space for survivors to garner support and resources. Yet it can be difficult to start a group from scratch, especially for individuals who are currently incarcerated. This resource identifies the successful markers and makings of implementing support group for survivors who are incarcerated.

Organization: Survived and Punished
Resource Type: Guide
Description: Trans, queer, and gender nonconforming people, particularly survivors of sexual and domestic violence, are systemically criminalized and significantly overrepresented in the criminal legal system (CLS). Yet research and policy focusing on incarceration and surveillance have failed to meaningfully account for the unique experiences of queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people. This research highlights the systemic and disproportionate criminal punishment of queer, trans, and gender nonconforming survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence. We focus on survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence to highlight the pipeline from surviving sexual and domestic violence to being arrested, incarcerated, and/or deported.

Organization: Sanctuary for Families / IGVSI
Resource Type: Webpage
Description: Led by Sanctuary for Families, the Incarcerated Gender Violence Survivors Initiative (IGVSI) is a collaboration among legal and social services organizations, law firms, advocacy groups, former judges, formerly incarcerated survivors, and other individuals committed to assisting survivors of gender violence incarcerated in New York State.

The Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) is a New York State law enacted to address the unique circumstances of domestic violence survivors who become involved in the criminal legal system. Signed into law on May 14, 2019, the DVSJA allows for reduced or alternative sentencing for survivors whose abuse was a significant contributing factor in the crimes they committed.

Learn about the key provisions and the history.