Women's Law and Policy Project


The Women's Law and Policy Project's mission is to create and promote legal and policy solutions to improve the lives of low-income women and girls. The WLPP creates new rights and opportunities where none exist and improves upon those that do. We bring to bear the full weight and strength of our legal and policy expertise to help low-income women and girls to escape poverty permanently.

Learn more about the WLPP

Manuals and Training Materials

Housing Rights for Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence
These brochures, flyers, and legal tools outline provisions of The Safe Homes Act and the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 (VAWA), which protect the housing rights of victims of domestic and sexual violence. Please feel free to download and distribute any of the materials.

The Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Act:
What Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Should Know
This pamphlet, produced by the Shriver Center and the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, describes the Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Act and how survivors of domestic violence can be eligible for compensation under the Act.

VESSA Manual
The Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) is an Illinois law that provides the most comprehensive set of employment law protections for victims of domestic or sexual violence in the country.  The VESSA manual explains what VESSA is and how to enforce the provisions of the law.

Gender and Social Security Privatization
The Bush Administration's plans to privatize would disproportionately harm women, who depend on social security for more of their income, and comprise 60 percent of social security's beneficiaries. The Shriver Center has compiled a report outlining the negative effects that privatization would have on women.

Publications

The Ensuring Success in School Act: Promoting School Success and Safety for Young People Who Are Parents, Expectant Parents, or Victims of Domestic or Sexual Violence, by Wendy Pollack, Aleeza Strubel, and Jennifer, as featured in the March-April 2006 issue of Clearinghouse Review

WomanView, a periodic newsletter on legal issues affecting low-income women and girls, is also available from the Project. To subscribe, click here.

Advocacy Materials

Crisis Assistance
Women may be entitled to Crisis Assistance under the TANF program on the basis of having fled their homes to escape domestic violence. The Shriver Center has prepared four sample letters, two for use by shelter staff and two for use by domestic violence agency advocates, to help women obtain Crisis Assistance benefits.

Education Reform Bill to Promote School Success
A coalition of youth, education, and violence advocates, spearheaded by the Shriver Center, has drafted a bill to promote school success and safety for Illinois students who are expectant parents, parents, or the victims of domestic or sexual violence.