State College, PA Joins the Human Rights Movement
Prof. Jill Engle reported the following: Joining a growing national movement, the Mayor of State College and the City Council declared Freedom from Domestic Violence a Fundamental Human Right and adopted a declaration that provides chilling statistics on the frequency of domestic violence. One statistic that is particularly disturbing is the range of age- 2o days to 92 years- of those who were killed because of family violence.
Prof. Engle was joined in this endeavor by Courtney Kiehl, a former student and current fellow in the Family Law Clinic directed by Prof. Engle. Courtney gives her personal account of her commitment to the project:
I came to law school because of my experience working with victim-survivors of sexual and domestic violence. I’ve seen cuts, bruises, scars, and fingers that had been broken so many times that the bones would never lay straight again. I’ve seen the emotional impact that goes far past the skin’s surface, the relentless fear, devastation, broken hearts and families. I’ve held the hands of young children as I walked them in to the courtroom and I’ve sat beside them as they testified about the violence they’d seen. For over a decade, this has been my world. I’ve dedicated myself to one mission, one goal: creating a world free from gender-based violence.
On October 12, 2015, that goal moved a little closer when my university town of State College, Pennsylvania joined the growing list of local government bodies across the country that have declared it is a fundamental human right to live free from domestic violence. These proclamations raise awareness and demonstrate support for a new, human rights-based approach to domestic violence. Further, these proclamations highlight the responsibility of local government to address domestic violence while acknowledging the important role they play in keeping their citizens safe.
The human rights proclamation was a policy project started by students in Penn State Law’s Family Law Clinic, where I’m currently doing a fellowship. In 2013 a clinic client, Tracy Raymond Miscavish, was killed by her estranged husband. This project has been deeply important to me and to each student who has worked on it.
During my second year of law school, I was fortunate enough to be a student in the Family Law Clinic . When Professor Engle told our class about this policy project, I knew I had to be a part of it. As previously mentioned, I’ve been working with victim-survivors for nearly 12 years now. While that might not seem like a very long time, I’m currently 25 years old and I know lawyers aren’t great at math, but that’s nearly half of my life. This proclamation might seem like just another piece of paper, but to me, Professor Engle and the other students who’ve worked on this project, it is so much more. It’s an acknowledgement of the prevalence and impact of domestic violence in our community. It’s a message to all victim-survivors and to past and present clients telling them that they are supported and no one in any circumstance, not any human being deserves to be abused. It’s a win, and we need all of those that we can get.