Dear Supporter,

This year, the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) is celebrating the 20^th anniversary of WomensLaw.org and the Email Hotline! In 2000, Elizabeth Martin founded WomensLaw.org alongside a group of dreamers: lawyers, teachers, advocates, and web designers who wanted to use the power of the internet to help survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Two decades later, more than two million people visit WomensLaw.org each year for access to easy-to-understand, state-specific legal information, help, and hope.

Donate now to support our work through WomensLaw.org and the Email Hotline.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Elizabeth Martin to talk more about how she put her vision into reality and how WomensLaw has grown over the past 20 years. Read our exclusive interview here.

What hasn’t changed is that WomensLaw.org continues to empower victims of domestic and sexual violence with the legal knowledge they need to change their lives. This incredible resource is available to survivors, advocates, and their loved ones for free. But we need help, especially now, to keep these resources available. Please consider donating to support WomensLaw.org and the Email Hotline today.

In these difficult times, this free legal resource is needed now more than ever. Here are just a few highlights from the past 20 years:

• We are constantly updating, expanding, and improving the state-specific, federal, and other information found on WomensLaw.org – often in response to challenges that survivors are experiencing nationwide. We completely redesigned the site in 2017; it now features an interactive map to find state-specific legal information, a section on Abuse Using Technology (in English and Spanish), and so much more!   
• Over 20,000 people were helped through the confidential, secure WomensLaw Email Hotline in the last six years. The Email Hotline – available in English and Spanish – has been streamlined and simplified, and now allows users to get their reply via text in addition to email and a secure online account. If they send their questions through the secure online account, they can also get notifications via text (in addition to email) when their question has been answered so they know to log in to view their reply.
• WomensLaw.org has an unprecedented amount of comprehensive legal information available in Spanish. We continue to improve language access for survivors in Spanish-speaking communities with state-specific information in Spanish for 26 states and U.S. territories.

I’m excited to share that on Tuesdays and Thursdays in September, WomensLaw is offering free Online Information Clinics for survivors in English and Spanish. Chat live with a lawyer (in English and Spanish) about restraining orders: how to file, how to enforce, and how to handle common obstacles that may arise. Learn more at WomensLaw.org/Clinics.  

WomensLaw is a lifeline to survivors and its continued innovation would not be possible without your support. Please consider donating to support WomensLaw during its 20^th anniversary year to help our efforts to empower survivors. Any amount will help NNEDV keep this critical resource open and available to all those who need free legal information.  

Thank you for supporting our efforts to empower survivors and their advocates and their loved ones.

   For safety and peace,
   
   Deborah J. Vagins
   NNEDV President and CEO