Reporter Volume 26, No.8 October 27, 1994

By STEVE COX
Reporter Staff
Although Saturday's discussion of New York's new domestic violence law
at the UB Law School Alumni Convocation may have shed new light on a
contemporary social problem for area attorneys, the issue of domestic
violence is far from new to UB law students.
	The law school is home to both the Domestic Violence Clinic,
which offers violence victims free legal advice, and the Domestic
Violence Task Force, a student organization that offers victims
support and safe shelter.
	This week, the task force will dramatically portray the human
side of violence against women with a local "Clothesline Project,"
according to Task Force Co-Coordinator Julia Hillel. The project seeks
to raise public awareness of the problem of domestic violence and
coincides with other events throughout the country during October,
which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
	Brightly colored T-shirts painted with graphic recollections
of rapes, assaults, crimes of hate and murder are displayed on a
clothesline, said Hillel. Their messages are real, coming from female
victims of violence or their friends and families. Some are painted
anonymously by the victims themselves. The Clothesline will be on
display at Harriman Hall tonight during "Take Back the Night."
Following their display, the shirts are sold to raise money for victim
support groups like the local Haven House, a shelter for battered
women.
	This fall, the clinic, which is part of the law school's legal
advocacy program, received a three-year, $276,000 grant from the U.S.
Department of Education. Clinical programs offer law students hands-on
experience working in real world legal situations. R. Nils Olsen, a UB
law professor and director of clinical programs, said the financial
infusion made a full-time director possible for the domestic violence
clinic, and enlarged the clinic's focus to what he called a "holistic
approach."
	"Most other law school clinical programs only provide direct
legal services to the victims," said Olsen. "We're trying to recognize
that the problem of domestic violence goes beyond that. Whole families
are impacted by this behavior, not just victims; children are impacted
by this."
	Students enrolled in the clinic not only aid victims with
legal matters, such as orders of protection, but have worked with the
Buffalo Police Department to encourage development of a "pro-arrest
policy," which will now be mandated by state law. Students have also
been placed in the Niagara County District Attorney's office and in
social service agencies in Rochester.