As the 2007 recipient of the KABA Public Interest Fellowship, I am extremely thankful for KABA’s commitment to public interest and the Korean American community. The KABA Public Interest Fellowship supported a recent law school graduate who is working for a nonprofit organization on a legal project dedicated to helping the Korean American community of Southern California. 

Through KABA’s generous fellowship, I have had the opportunity to work directly with the Korean American community as a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA). I am able to do this through our bi-monthly Koreatown clinics, our monthly KABA clinics, the LAFLA Korean hotline and through direct referrals from local domestic violence shelters, such as the Center for Pacific Asian Families (CPAF).   

The majority of the clients I work with are low-income, monolingual survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Many times, these individuals are at a significant disadvantage in court because they cannot speak English and are intimidated by the system. It has been extremely rewarding to be able to give these victims a voice.   

I recently had a 76-year-old client, Ms. Park, who was being abused by her husband. She told me that her husband was extremely jealous, controlling and would hit her when he did not get his way. I advised her on her legal options, but she was too scared to leave him. Ms. Park had moved to Los Angeles from Korea and had no friends or family to help her financially or emotionally. They were living in subsidized senior housing and the abuser was financially supporting her. She told me that without her abuser, she would be homeless and penniless. We explained to her that she had alternatives and that we could assist her whenever she was ready.

Shortly after our first meeting, the LAFLA Korean hotline received a call from Ms. Park. She came into our office with severe bruises on her neck and arms. She told me that she tried hard to make the marriage work and endured his abuse throughout the marriage. However, this time, he began choking her with a ferocious look in his eyes, and she truly though that he was about to kill her. She somehow managed to push him away and called the police. Her husband was subsequently arrested and taken to jail. However, he was to be released and she was scared he would return to their home to hurt her again, perhaps even kill her.

I filed a restraining order for Ms. Park, worked on getting her government benefits and applied for her lawful immigration status. On our court date for the restraining order, Ms. Park was trembling and crying.  She was scared the judge would not believe her and would only listen to her husband. Her husband had told her that she was stupid and could not survive without him. She believed these words and was afraid that her husband would hurt her for reporting him to the police. At the end of the hearing, Ms. Park was granted a restraining order against her husband, and he was ordered to move out of their senior apartment. Ms. Park began to sob when she heard the judge, but this time she was crying out of relief. She knew that she was finally free from him and no longer had to live with the physical, mental and sexual abuse she had to endure almost daily.