The need in Queens
for free legal services is immense

Our extensive experience in the Bronx has taught us how important it is to reach abused and culturally isolated women in the communities where they live. We have witnessed first-hand the extraordinary social, emotional and financial challenges that immigrant domestic violence victims face when they try to report abuse or access help.

Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the entire U.S.
Since 1990, one million new immigrants have made Queens their home—46% of the people who live in Queens were born in a foreign country—and collectively they speak more than 160 languages. In this borough, with one of the nation’s most rapidly growing immigrant populations, the potential for cultural isolation is tremendous.

Geographic barriers
Covering 109 square miles, Queens is the largest of New York City’s boroughs. Domestic violence advocates have long recognized one of the biggest hurdles to survivors seeking help is the physical distance which often separates them from service providers, law enforcement centers and our City’s courts.

Legal services agencies are scarce
In a county of over 2.2 million people, only nine Queens-based legal services lawyers and legal assistants serve low-income clients who need matrimonial and family law assistance.

The numbers speak for themselves
45,877 incidents of domestic violence were reported in Queens last year. Twenty-six percent of all domestic homicides in the City of New York were reported in Queens County. Citywide the police responded to 229,354* domestic violence incidents last year; averaging over 600 incidents per day. In addition, the NYPD’s Domestic Violence Unit conducted 76,602* home visits in 2007, a ninety-eight percent increase since 2002.

*Source: Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Fact Sheet Calendar Year 2007.

Learn more about
Meet our Queens staff
On-site partners and services available at the Queens Family Justice Center
Willkie Farr establishes new externship to protect Queens women