Affording Rights Early and Often

A crime victim’s first contact with criminal justice is predictive of whether they experience re-victimization or empowerment; whether they access justice or disengage. Ensuring that survivors are empowered and can meaningfully choose their path to healing starts with ensuring victims’ rights are meaningfully afforded from first contact. For this reason, NCVLI has prioritized working with law enforcement agencies to help them develop and use trauma-informed practices grounded in victims’ rights. As part of NCVLI’s work we partner with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to develop resources that are designed to provide law enforcement-based victim service providers with a base of knowledge regarding crime victims’ rights in their jurisdiction and promising practices to ensure compliance with and enforcement of those rights. Among these resources: state-specific victims’ rights profiles, which identify select rights implicated during investigation, and state-specific analysis of privacy, confidentiality and privilege as it relates to law enforcement-based victim service professionals. These resources are available in our Victim Law Library. We are excited to continue working to aid victims’ ability to make informed decisions about whether, how and when to exercise their rights.