Reimagining access to justice through the eyes of rural domestic violence survivors

Abstract

Access to justice is a theoretical construct and applied principle within the US legal system, centering equity in access to legal services and representation. However, access to justice extends beyond the legal sphere and into the daily lives of vulnerable people. This article contributes to long-standing efforts to reimagine and repurpose the access to justice framework through an ethnographic examination of rural domestic violence. In doing so, there exists significant promise to transform access to justice in a way that comprehensively sees and addresses inequity and injustice. Access to justice can be used in a multitude of ways to make sense of vulnerability at the intersection of rurality, domestic violence, resource accessibility, and activism, expanding the theoretical framework beyond its original scope toward social justice.

Doing rural community-based action research (CBAR): Community perceptions and methodological impacts

“…This article contends with the realities of doing community-based participatory-and action-oriented research in rural places. This is a critical contribution to both methodological and rural scholarship; rural places are unique in that they value close relationships and residents often face harsh inequities routinely neglected by research and social policy (Magnus 2023;Magnus and Advincula 2021;Magnus and Donohue 2021;Magnus and Sherrick 2023). Reflecting on one rural, 12-month community-based action research (CBAR) project, this article demonstrates the complexities of doing rural CBAR in a community we call Ledora.…”

Saviors and Services: The Interface of Neoliberal Deprivation, Hegemonic Christianity, Social Exclusion, and Rural Church Resource Provision☆

“…Further, un‐ and underemployment continue to remain higher in rural places compared to metropolitan regions, and the lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness and housing insecurity. Yet, institutionalized social services are largely inaccessible to rural people (Magnus and Advincula 2021; Magnus and Donohue 2022; Tickamyer, Sherman, and Warlick 2017). This reality can be exclusionary for those in poverty who are not part of a local church community, especially vulnerable populations like the LGBTQ+ community, those who are homeless, those with criminal records, and single parents (Barton 2010; Terry 2020).…”