On Monday, September 14 at approximately 2:32 p.m., Rachel Richardson posted the following entry on her Facebook wall: “(I am) relieved to have a new prosecutor, and to not feel the need to put him on blast after a meeting with he and the victim in a criminal domestic violence case this morning. he only, kind of, blamed her for getting beat up by her boyfriend. so far, so good...”
     As one of the cofounders of Independent Advocates, a court advocacy agency providing assistance to local victims of domestic violence, Richardson often posts such sentiments on her online social network pages.
But she wishes to God she didn’t have to.
     “We have a serious problem with domestic violence in Toledo,” says Richardson, seated across from Independent Advocates’ other cofounder Rebecca Facey. “And we have a serious problem with the abusers thinking they can get away with it.”
     This social advocacy tag team founded Independent Advocates (IA) in November 2007 as a way to help women who have been victimized by domestic violence maneuver through the court system, which can be a daunting and often frustrating world. Domestic violence charges are often dropped if the victim fails to appear in court and many of them don’t out of fear of retaliation by the abuser, or feeling they cannot leave their abusive situation due to financial constraints.
     That’s where Richardson and Facey come in.
     “We need to let these women know they do have options and they don’t have to tolerate (the abuse),” says Richardson.
     It’s a long, often complicated process, but Richardson and Facey love what they do. They even have matching IA logo tattoos. When the two first met, they were both working as case workers at another advocacy organization, which both declined to name.
     “We started IA out of frustration. At the old organization, we were  encouraged to count our clients rather than serve them,” says Richardson.
Through IA’s court advocacy program, Richardson and Facey work alongside women who are pressing domestic violence charges against a spouse or household member. From coaching the victims on their legal options to helping them file for child custody to the divorce proceedings, the two work with the individual complainants every step of the way, ensuring they are properly protected and treated fairly by the legal system. Since founding the organization, the women have helped more than 200 women through IA’s court advocacy program. They also have taught domestic violence awareness and presentations on healthy relationships to more than 1000 people. They also will assist with anything else the victim needs to start a new life, from helping with resumes and job leads to finding a new place to live.
     According to Richardson, the main thing that separates Independent Advocates from other court advocacy groups is their policy of working with the domestic violence victim through the entire legal process, from criminal court to domestic relations court or any other legal proceeding.
     “If a victim (is a complaining witness in) a criminal domestic violence case in Toledo Municipal Court and then needs to go to Domestic Relations court to get a civil protection order and so on, IA provides the victim with the same advocate for all of those cases,” says Richardson. “It cuts down on the confusion and runaround for the victim. We keep the process streamlined and straight.”
     Independent Advocates provides all services free of charge and the organization was granted nonprofit status in July of this year. Earlier this year, Richardson and Facey closed their Spitzer Building office and became roommates in order to keep their costs down.
“We get a lot of support from our community, and we’ve tightened our proverbial belts to make this work,” says Richardson. “We’re two people with limited resources. But we need to get the message out to victimized women that they have options.”