Mental Illness and Domestic Violence: Implications for Family Law Litigation

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Experts find that a large percentage of battered women have significant mental health issues. Prejudice in family courts regarding mental health conditions can cost these women custody of their children. However, lawyers representing battered women can effectively raise the issue of mental illness and use mental health treatment evidence in ways that mitigate the stigma, potentially help the client prove her case, and over time erode the prejudice.

By Denice Wolf Markham From May - June 2003