Taria Humphries

It can take extraordinary courage for survivors of domestic violence to stand up to their abusers. Taria Humphries had put up with more than a decade of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. But when her batterer laid hands on her son, she decided enough was enough. Before Ms. Humphries came to Legal Aid DC for assistance, she had already been in and out of court numerous times by herself seeking protection from her abuser. Unfortunately, the abuser used the court to further his abuse against Ms. Humphries. He forced her to stay awake the evenings before court dates, threatened to do further harm if she took court action, made false accusations against her, and repeatedly used physical and sexual abuse to humiliate her and assert his authority. All this led to the abuser getting custody of the children. After Legal Aid DC stepped in, Ms. Humphries was able to present the true story to the court. In the end, Ms. Humphries received the order of protection she needed and regained full custody of her children with no visitation for the abuser.