I work at the Int'l Refugee Center in Portland, OR and we are putting together a grant proposal to increase multilingual information on domestic violence for non-English speaking immigrant and refugee women. We have been asked to provide translations that have been looked at by bilingual lawyers to ensure accuracy of concepts. Such people are hard to find and Oregon may not be the best place. We are looking for Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese speaking lawyers (amongst others) with fluency in English and a knowledge of domestic violence issues in the States and generally. I have contacted the American Bar Association already. Any suggestions for other avenues? As a non-profit we cannot afford the usual hourly rates for lawyers and do not have much time to look for people before the proposal is due. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks. Deborah, IRCO

Thanks for your note to FEMINIST.COM. As for experts on domestic violence in general, I would contact the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (99 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013; 212-925-6635; Fax 212-226-1066) They have done extensive legal research on this issue. They also probably have a spanish speaking expert. There is also the Family Violence Prevention Fund--a national network of those working to end domestic violence.

As for a Vietnamese expert, I would contact the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence in New York City (#212-473-6485). They work against hate based crimes and not specifically domestic violence, but domestic violence is also a big part of their work. As for a Russian expert, my suggestions are limited--the Russian Embassy or Consultate in New York City and/or the Network of East-West Women. The former might work since I just read that Yeltsin wants to reduce crime--hopefully he'll see this as a crime. As for the latter, this is a group of feminist writers working across national boundaries. They will most likely have feminist writers versed on this issue in their network.

—Amy