NOW Foundation Files Amicus Brief in Domestic Violence Case

Article here. Excerpt:

'On Nov. 20, the National Organization for Women (NOW) Foundation filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 10 women's rights and anti-violence organizations in the case of Khawam v. Wolfe, in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The brief supports reversal of an unprecedented award of $350,000 in attorneys' fees against a woman who accused her ex-husband of domestic violence. The brief argues that such an extraordinary award may chill protective mothers from raising allegations of domestic violence in custody disputes for fear of retaliation should their claims ultimately be found unproven.

After Khawam sought a protective order against Wolfe, citing emotional and physical abuse, Wolfe sought custody of their young child. Khawam's ability to introduce evidence of domestic violence was sharply limited by the courts, and her truncated testimony was ruled not credible, leading to Wolfe being awarded sole custody of their son. Additionally, the judge expressly premised the attorneys' fee award on Khawam's supposedly "unsupported" domestic violence allegations.
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NOW Foundation President Terry O'Neill states: "This case is emblematic of the continuing bias in family courts against women, discrediting their testimony of domestic violence, ignoring the potential for continuing abuse of children placed in the custody of abusers and financially punishing the protective parent. This judicial bias is all too often reinforced by biased psychological evaluators, who frequently view conflict as caused equally by both parties. That is a dangerously false equivalence in cases of intimate partner violence."