July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
There's more work to be done
Letters to the Editor
To the editor:
As we commemorate three decades of defending victims’ rights, we are reminded of how far we have come … and how much work is yet to be done.
Only 30 years ago, crime victims had virtually no rights and no assistance. Victims were commonly excluded from courtrooms and denied the chance to speak at sentencing. They had no access to victim compensation or services to help rebuild their lives. There were few avenues to deal with their emotional and physical wounds. Victims were on their own to recover their health, security, and dignity.
Today every state has enacted victims’ rights laws and all have victim compensation programs. In Indiana, for example, a law enforcement officer responding to the scene of a crime involving domestic or family violence must give the victim immediate and written notice of their legal rights. And a new law just went into effect that gives victims the right to have an advocate with them in civil court proceedings. The full Notice of Victim Rights is available at www.icadvinc.org.
In 1984, Congress passed the bipartisan Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) that created a national fund to ease victims’ suffering. Financed not by taxpayers but by fines and penalties paid by offenders, the Crime Victims Fund supports victim services such as rape crisis and domestic violence programs and victim compensation programs that pay many of victims’ out-of-pocket expenses from the crime.
Victims’ rights advocates have scored remarkable victories over the last 30 years. But there is still a lot of work to be done. Today, a spotlight is shining on other abuses that have long been unreported and often not prosecuted—hate and bias crimes, bullying, and sex and labor trafficking, among others.
For more ideas on how to volunteer to help crime victims, visit the Office for Victims of Crime website, www.ovc.gov. For more information on domestic violence, visit the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence website at www.icadvinc.org.
Laura Berry
Executive Director
Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence[[In-content Ad]]
As we commemorate three decades of defending victims’ rights, we are reminded of how far we have come … and how much work is yet to be done.
Only 30 years ago, crime victims had virtually no rights and no assistance. Victims were commonly excluded from courtrooms and denied the chance to speak at sentencing. They had no access to victim compensation or services to help rebuild their lives. There were few avenues to deal with their emotional and physical wounds. Victims were on their own to recover their health, security, and dignity.
Today every state has enacted victims’ rights laws and all have victim compensation programs. In Indiana, for example, a law enforcement officer responding to the scene of a crime involving domestic or family violence must give the victim immediate and written notice of their legal rights. And a new law just went into effect that gives victims the right to have an advocate with them in civil court proceedings. The full Notice of Victim Rights is available at www.icadvinc.org.
In 1984, Congress passed the bipartisan Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) that created a national fund to ease victims’ suffering. Financed not by taxpayers but by fines and penalties paid by offenders, the Crime Victims Fund supports victim services such as rape crisis and domestic violence programs and victim compensation programs that pay many of victims’ out-of-pocket expenses from the crime.
Victims’ rights advocates have scored remarkable victories over the last 30 years. But there is still a lot of work to be done. Today, a spotlight is shining on other abuses that have long been unreported and often not prosecuted—hate and bias crimes, bullying, and sex and labor trafficking, among others.
For more ideas on how to volunteer to help crime victims, visit the Office for Victims of Crime website, www.ovc.gov. For more information on domestic violence, visit the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence website at www.icadvinc.org.
Laura Berry
Executive Director
Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence[[In-content Ad]]
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