Victims Rights

Last week, the White House released a short, celebrity packed, 60-second public service announcement (PSA) on the topic of sexual assault. 1 is 2 Many addressed those who are in control of preventing sexual assault as its intended audience was those who can put a stop to sexual violence: the perpetrators or would-be offenders. Although this one minute announcement completed the task of bringing sexual assault to the forefront of discussion, it failed to encompass the central issues concerning the culture of sexual assault: societal misperceptions, the victims, and the justice system. Sexual assault is a phenomenon that has been around for centuries; the culture of sexual assault is rooted in both legal practices and societal perceptions.

Frustratingly, these days, some people still treat sexual assault as an “okay” thing, making comments such as “she was asking for it” and that she was “equally responsible” for the situation. This is exactly the sort of mindset that is contributing to the startling statistics today.

A crime against the state is seen as a violation of the rule of law, while crime against people is seen as a violation of human rights, and both conditions lead to the punishment of the offender befitting the crime. In this process of achieving justice, those highly impacted by these wrong actions are often ignored; the battle between the offender and the Crown often makes the victim, a mere spectator. The Canadian Criminal Justice System is continuing to do its best in addressing the dissatisfaction victims feel towards the authorities. However, study of literature shows that although victim rights have come a long way and are continuing to develop further, they are not successful in addressing the concerns of the victim. The article, “Crime

From small states to national legislation, the concept of victims’ rights has become a growing concern. The organization VALOR (Victim Assistance Legal Organization) was hard at work for 16 years before gaining national recognition. In 1995, The United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime awarded VALOR a grant to create the National Victim Assistance Academy. This academy would train individuals to deal with the emotional and legal needs of victims (VALOR, 2005). Programs such as those in Summit County, was the base for the legislation changes brought on in the 1980s. From that development, the county has evolved to teaching law makers, officers and representatives how to deal with victims rights. Considering in 1970 victims’ rights were nonexistent, the last three decades have been very impressive.

‘Sexual Violence is more than just a crime against individuals. It threatens our families; it threatens our communities. Ultimately, it threatens the entire country’ (qtd. in Burleigh pg. 2). In the article, “Confronting Campus Rape” written by Nina Burleigh; a writer, journalist, and professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, describes what students are doing to force universities to take a stronger stand against campus sexual assault. Moreover Burleigh describes what the government is doing to make a difference on the issue. This includes laws that have created consequences for the assaulter and laws that protect the victim. According to Burleigh, a young woman called Laura Dunn was sexually assaulted on campus. Dunn was a student of UW. On April 4th, 2014, Dunn lost her virginity to two UW athletes. That night, Dunn was attending a party at the university. Dunn was enjoying the party and lost count of her alcohol intake. Dunn remembers being led out by two older teammates, who she knew. Dunn was very intoxicated, enough to stumble on her way back to what she thought would be another campus party, as one of the athletes helped her walk. The athletes led Dunn to one of their apartments where she found herself on a bed with both of them on top of her. Dunn was so intoxicated that she couldn’t help but to drift in and out of conscious leaving her unable to stop the two men. Dunn began to feel sick and was led to the bathroom by one of the athletes, where he penetrated her from behind while she was throwing up. That was a date Dunn would never forget. Dunn like many other women at the UW have been sexually abused by other students. Although Dun’s incident is shocking, it is not uncommon for women to be sexually assaulted on campus. A woman at the  university of Wisconsin is more prone to being sexually assaulted than any other woman in the country because of alcohol intoxication; this is a problem that must be resolved.

Sexual assault policy in the United States as it stands is clearly inadequate for protecting the physical wellbeing of men and women from sexual assault. Layering of policy serves a s a Band-Aid on a social wound much too large to be contained and the rise of sexual assault as a public problem reiterates the need for greater legislation and policy to protect everyone from becoming prey to the crime of sexual assault. While eyes focus on the (disproven) rise of violence in the United States, and turn to gun control, other violent crimes are forgotten. Sexual Assault has seen several cases of policy failure that actors have tried to salvage through the act of policy layering and have not significantly resolved the problem.

“Did you know that every 98 seconds, an American is being sexually assaulted?”(vaglanos) Sexual assault against every person has come to the concern of our human rights. It is despairing to say that people all over the world deal with these situations or at least know somebody that has. Sexual assault can happen to anyone at anytime,and for the longest time horrific events such as rape and nonconsensual sex have been part of a high crime rate.

In 2015, Brock Turner, a student and swimmer from Stanford University, sexually assaulted a 22-year old woman. The victim was drunk and unconscious at the time of intercourse, and absolutely no consent was given to Turner. Brock Turner simply received a 6-month sentence, which was later reduced to 3-months. Similarly, a 20-year old man from Dallas, Texas, Sir Young, was given a very light sentence after pleading guilty to the rape of a 14-year old girl when he was 18. The rapist received only 45 days in jail, a 5 year probation, 250 community hours, and did not have to follow sex offender regulations, such as staying away from children, going to treatment and evaluation, and no pornography restrictions. The judge stated that the reason she did not lengthen his sentence was because the victim “wasn't the victim she claimed to be” since she had a history of 3 sexual partners and had already given birth to a child. These unbelievably light sentences do not protect women from these men and encourage women not to speak up if they’re victims. Our own justice system continues to fail in providing us our justice while those people get what they

Victims of crime in New South Wales have a Charter of Victims Rights (the Charter) to protect and promote their rights. The NSW Government has recently amended the Charter, strengthening the way rights are expressed. An additional right has been added to the Charter - The right to be informed about making a complaint if you think that the Charter has been breached.

The US constitution didn't actually specify much about victims rights. Sure, the 6th ammendment guarantees anyone accused of a crime a speedy trial, the right to know why they're on trial in the first place, the right to confront a witness, and the right to have council. But compensation for victims rights, allowing victims to participate in the trial, and letting female victims of violence accuse their attackers of actual crimes are all part of a movement that happened in the late 20th century. In the 1960s, a woman named Margaret fry began to speak out and advocate on behalf of victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse. Thanks to her efforts, states began passing victim compensation laws in the 1960s. This set the stage for advances that came about in the 1970s. After a few decades full of interest on crime prevention and rehabilitation, people began to feel prosecutors were too concerned with the rights of the defendant. They wanted harsher punishment, less opportunity for parole, and more death penalty. Meanwhile, women were being treated unfairly in court. Married women weren't allowed to accuse their husbands of rape and most of the time, rape victims found their character being put on trial. To bring attention to these issues, RONALD Reagan decided to put into effect a crime victims week in 1981. This has continued every year in April. He also created a "task force on victims crimes," which studied the issues of victims'

During the investigation, women were re-victimized by the police once their sexual assault complaint went through the criminal justice system, which is known as ‘judicial rape,’ due to the narratives surrounding rape myths (Ehrlich, 2012). False accusations of rape are filed for three main reasons, which are to “create an alibi, to get revenge and to elicit sympathy or attention” (DuBrois, 2012, pg. 205). Women were thought to be responsible for their own safety and protecting themselves from sexual assaults (Randall, 2010). Women are impacted disproportionately by poor quality or non-existent investigations when filing sexual assault claims due to gender bias (DuBois,

Recovering from being a victim of any crime, specifically sexual abuse, can bring more than physical and emotional suffering, to one’s life. Each state offers a crime victims compensation program as a means for financial assistance with any costs for the victims’ services, such as, medical care, counseling, law enforcement resources, and loss of quality of life. (White House Council, 2014). These programs have a maximum that will be paid for each claim, but that varies by states, and can range from $10,000-$100,000 (Crime Victim, 2012). However, the average compensation is $25,000, with limits on certain types of expenses (White House Council, 2014). In addition, because it can take time for the claim to be completed,

I choose this topic because sexual assault is one of the most offensive crimes committed in our society. Not only is it a threat to the community, but it has a physically and psychologically effect on the victim in many ways. For the last couple of decades, sexual assault, rape, and child molestation has become the focal point of public concerns today. According to a 1993 National Crime Victimization Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 500,000 rapes or sexual assaults occur each year (Statistics, March 2010). The Department of Justice states that, “rape crimes have risen nearly three times as fast as the total crime rate”, although other studies have shown statistics that are in

This literature review provides a brief overview of six scholarly articles and other facts about sexual assault .This review will first define sexual assault as it is defined in these articles. It will analyze the strengths and limitations of the definition used and will discuss the occurrence of sexual assault in the general population.This review will also illustrate the protective factors, barriers to recovery , impact of development and the specific sexual assault population that are absent in these articles. Sexual assault is a societal issue that impacts men and women at every age in their life, it’s much more highly reported among college aged women. The majority of women who are victims of rape are

The role of victim in the United Kingdom has been debated throughout history. Historically victims contributed in an engaging part in contrast to their contemporary passive role within the criminal justice system. This study seeks to underpin the factors which have led to this transformation. This apparent adjustment was mentioned in the government strategy document, ‘A new deal for victims and witnesses’. This document indicated the need for effective justice and that victims should be at the heart of the criminal justice system. This shows that the criminal justice system is keen to rebalance its focus on victims, witnesses and communities (Thomas, 2016). This will be evident when exploring approaches such as the restorative justice process. As well as providing the social construction of victimisation; the study will highlight the impact of criminal behaviour in a broader sense linking with diversity and discrimination. Finally, the more recent approach in working with victims via various organisations will be assessed and whether this has effectively supported the victim’s needs. There has also been legislation and policies introduced throughout time which has encouraged wider involvement amongst agencies in light of particular historical events. Indeed amongst the timeline of events, there will be noticeable changes in the perceptions forwarded by society, media and organisations that work with victims. However it is imperative to firstly understand the social