Crime Victim's Rights Movement

Today, the United States has reached a milestone in the acknowledging and responding to victims and their advocates. Victims’ rights laws have been enacted in every state, more than 10,000 victim assistance programs have been developed around the country, and every state has a crime victim compensation program in place. The creation of a federal Crime Victims Fund has provided more than $2.3 billion from fines paid by federal criminal offenders to support services for victims. The fund was established by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 and is financed not by tax dollars, but by fines and penalties paid by convicted federal offenders. As of September 2013, the Fund balance had reached almost $9 billion and includes deposits from federal criminal

The leaders of the women’s movement saw crimes such as sexual assault and domestic violence as well as the poor response of the criminal justice system as real life examples of the lack of status, power, and influence that women have in society. Denise Snyder, Director of the Washington, D.C. Rape Crisis Center, states “…if you go back 30 years ago when the Center first started…the silence was deafening. This issue was one that society didn’t want to think about, didn’t want to hear about. The individual survivors felt incredible isolation.” Because of the serious aftermath of crimes on victims and the previous lack of support from the criminal justice system, multiple policies have been put in place in the attempt to help

These challenges include differential responses to victims by the criminal justice system with regard to race and ethnicity, age, economic status, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship status, and ability or lack of. Local, state, and federal jurisdictions are also not consistent with implementing victims’ rights. Some believe that one way to address this lack of consistency is to develop standards for victim assistance programs (Victims’ Rights Movement, 2012). Although research has focused on the mental health trauma associated with violent crime, research into pathways to resiliency for crime victims has received less attention. More research exploring linkages between mental health outcomes and victim rights is also needed (Victims’ Rights Movement, 2012). In order to have a better understanding of the aftermath of criminal victimization, we need to accept that crime is random, senseless at times, and can happen to anyone, anywhere, even with programs and policies in place such as the ones I have mentioned. We must always keep in mind that a victim’s entire life is changed when they become a victim. More education is needed for those who come into contact with victims of crime so that they may be better assisted in dealing with the aftermath and trauma of