The Legal Eagle of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Jennifer Arsenian is the legal eagle at the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence and her expertise is bar none when it comes to knowing, articulating and building partnerships across the state, while advocating on behalf of victims of domestic violence.

The Coalition has prioritized designing a criminal justice response for the State of Alabama through a cohesive, collaborative and coordinated effort to address domestic violence in our State.

The Criminal Justice Coordinated Community Response Project has been underway for approximately 7 years. This team of experts which includes, the courts, law enforcement, probation, prosecutors and anyone who maybe involved or potentially involved in the judicial process. Building these types of collaborative partnerships are not as easy as it may sound, as it requires significant leadership and dedication to follow it to the end.

Alabama has significant data which speaks to the necessity of having this collaborative partnership. In 2008 Alabama reported 34 domestic violence homicides, 1, 615 aggravated assault, 29, 940 simple assaults and in 20% of these cases a fire arm was used. The Violence Policy Center ranked us 6th in the nation for men who murder women and we are 12th for reported incidents of domestic violence.

Jennifer has worked diligently on developing the best practices in partnership with various criminal justice agencies which include: (1) starting with the first responders and understanding their role and the impact that they have as the initial people to engage the victim and potentially the perpetrator and the importance of risk assessment for themselves and the victim (2)ensuring that the investigative units understand the importance of collecting evidence that can be used and is processed properly for the next phase; and (3) lastly putting into place the prosecutorial procedures which lead to successful prosecution and successful batterer intervention and supervision for convicted offenders. Throughout the entire process victim advocacy is crucial to ensure victims are aware of services, know how to develop safety plans and understand the criminal justice process.

Our ultimate goal is to create a seamless response to domestic violence cases ensuring victim safety and perpetrator accountability are the paramount goals throughout the criminal justice system. We have had an incredible response from communities throughout the State and we see real positive change for victims in Alabama.