LANDMARKS IN VICTIMS’ RIGHTS AND SERVICES
CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN AMERICA:
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Each year, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week provides
communities across the United States with a unique op-
portunity to contribute to reshaping the future for victims
of crime—by raising awareness about crime-victim issues,
by identifying and reaching out to victims who need our
help, and by thinking anew about how to help individuals
and communities harmed by crime. This annual observance
also reminds us that, by honoring the past, we stand on the
shoulders of those who led our nation’s struggle to secure
basic rights, protections, and services for crime victims.
“Landmarks in Victims’ Rights and Services” illustrates
just how far we have come—from 1965 to the present—by
highlighting significant federal and state laws, the growth of
national and community victim service organizations, the
release of groundbreaking reports, and the development of
victim assistance approaches that have expanded the na-
tion’s capacity to help victims rebuild their lives.
As you make your plans for 2011 National Crime
Victims’ Rights Week, draw on this information-packed
resource to underscore how the victim services community
continues its dedication to reshaping the future while hon-
oring the past. Use this historical overview to inform your
speeches, media interviews, public service announcements,
op-ed columns, and any other outreach efforts during
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and throughout the
year.
Key Federal Victims’ Rights Legislation
1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
1980 Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act
1982 Victim and Witness Protection Act
1982 Missing Children’s Act
1984 Victims of Crime Act
1984 Justice Assistance Act
1984 Missing Children’s Assistance Act
1984 Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
1985 Children’s Justice Act
1988 Drunk Driving Prevention Act
1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act
1990 Victims of Child Abuse Act
1990 Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act
1990 National Child Search Assistance Act
1992 Battered Women’s Testimony Act
1993 Child Sexual Abuse Registry Act
1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
1994 Violence Against Women Act
1996 Community Notification Act (“Megan’s Law”)
1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
1996 Mandatory Victims’ Restitution Act
1997 Victims’ Rights Clarification Act
1998 Crime Victims with Disabilities Act
1998 Identity Theft and Deterrence Act
2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act
2001 Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
(established September 11th Victim Compensation Fund)
2003 PROTECT Act (“Amber Alert” law)
2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act
2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act2004 Justice for All Act, including Title I The Scott Campbell,
Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and
Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights Act2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act
2010 Tribal Law and Order Act
…for EVENTS are as much the parents of the future
as they were the children of the past.”
~JOHN GALSWORTHY, SAINT’S PROGRESS (1919)
1965
• The first crime victim compensation program is estab-
lished in California.
• By 1970, five additional compensa tion programs are cre-
ated in New York, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands.
1972
• The first three victim assistance programs are established:
» Aid for Victims of Crime in St. Louis, Missouri.
» Bay Area Women Against Rape in San Francisco,
California.
» D.C. Rape Crisis Center in Washing ton, DC.
1973
• The results of the first annual National Crime Victim-
ization Survey are released. The survey, commis sioned
by the President’s Commis sion on Law Enforcement
and the Administration of Justice, asks U.S. household
members about their exposure to crime. It is intended
to complement the FBI’s annual compilation of crimes
reported to law enforcement agencies.
1974
• The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
(LEAA) funds the first victim/witness programs in the
Brooklyn and Milwaukee District Attorneys’ offices and
seven other offices through a grant given to the National
District Attorneys Association to establish model as-
sistance programs for victims, encourage victim coopera-
tion, and improve prosecution.
• The first law enforcement -based victim assistance pro-
grams are established in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and
Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Congress passes the Child Abuse Prevention and Treat-
ment Act, which establishes the National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect. The new Center establishes
an information clearinghouse and provides technical as-
sistance and model programs.
1975
• The first “Victims’ Rights Week” is organized by the
Philadelphia District Attorney.
• Citizen activists from across the country unite to expand
victim services and increase recognition of victims’ rights
through the formation of the National Organization for
Victim Assistance (NOVA).
1976
• The National Organization for Women forms a task
force to examine the problem of battering. It calls for re-
search into the problem, along with money for battered
women’s shelters.
• The first national conference on battered women is
sponsored by the Milwaukee Task Force on Women in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• In Fresno County, California, Chief Probation Officer
James Rowland creates the first victim impact statement
to provide the judiciary with an objective inventory of
victim injuries and losses at sentencing.
• The first hotline for battered women is started by Wom-
en’s Advocates in St. Paul, Minnesota.
• Women’s Advocates and Haven House in Pasadena, Cali-
fornia, establish the first shelters for battered women.
• Nebraska and Wisconsin become the first states to abol-
ish the marital rape exemption.
1977
• The National Association of Crime Victim Compensa-
tion Boards is established by the existing 22 state victim
compensation programs to foster a nationwide network
of compensation programs.
• Oregon becomes the first state to enact a mandatory ar-
rest law in domestic violence cases.
1978
• The National Coalition Against Sexual Assault is formed
to combat sexual violence and promote services for rape
victims.
• The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
(NCADV) is organized as a voice for the battered
women’s movement on a national level.
• Parents Of Murdered Children, Inc. (POMC), a self -
help support group, is founded in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Minnesota becomes the first state to allow probable
cause (warrant less) arrests in cases of domestic assault,
regardless of whether a protection order has been issued.
1979
• Frank G. Carrington founds the Crime Victims’ Legal
Advocacy Institute, Inc., to promote the rights of crime
victims in the civil and criminal justice systems. The
nonprofit organization is renamed VALOR, the Victims’
Assistance Legal Organization, in 1981.
• The Office on Domestic Violence is established in the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services but is
later closed in 1981.
• The World Society of Victimology is formed to promote
research relating to crime victims and victim assistance,
advocate for victims’ interests, and advance cooperation
of international, regional, and local agencies concerned
with crime victims’ issues.
1980
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is founded
after the death of 13- year- old Cari Lightner, who was
killed by a repeat drunk -dri ving offender. The first two
MADD chapters are established in Sacra mento, Califor-
nia, and Annapolis, Maryland.
• Congress passes the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act
of 1980.
• Wisconsin passes the first “Crime Victims’ Bill of
Rights.”
• The First National Day of Unity is established in Octo-
ber by NCADV to mourn battered women who have
died, celebrate women who have survived the violence,
and honor all who have worked to end domestic vio-
lence.
• The first Victim Impact Panel is sponsored by Remove
Intoxicated Drivers (RID) in Oswego County, New
York.
1981
• President Ronald Reagan proclaims the first “National
Victims’ Rights Week” in April.
• The abduction and murder of six -year- old Adam Walsh
prompt a national campaign to raise public awareness
about missing children and enact laws to better protect
children.
• The Attorney General’s Task Force on Violent Crime
recommends that a separate national task force be cre-
ated to examine victims’ issues.
1982
• In a Rose Garden ceremony, President Reagan appoints
members of the Task Force on Victims of Crime, which
holds public hearings in six cities across the nation to
focus attention on the needs of crime victims. The Task
Force’s Final Report offers 68 recommendations that
become the framework for the advancement of new
programs and policies. Its final recommendation, to
amend the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
to guarantee that “…the victim, in every criminal pros-
ecution, shall have the right to be present and to be heard
at all critical stages of judicial proceed ings…” becomes a
vital source of new energy to secure state victims’ rights
constitutional amendments.
• The Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 brings
“fair treatment standards” to victims and witnesses in the
federal criminal justice system.
• California becomes the first state to amend its constitu-
tion to address the interests of crime victims by establish-
ing a constitutional right to victim restitution
STATISTICAL OVERVIEWS
CRIME VICTIMIZATION IN THE
UNITED STATES: STATISTICAL OVERVIEWSNumbers do matter, especially when it comes to under-
standing and responding for the realities of crime victimiza-
tion. Crime victimization statistics allow people to see a
crime not as a singular event, but as a rippling disturbance
with often far-reaching consequences to individuals, fami-
lies, and entire communities. That’s why, every year, we up-
date the Statistical Overviews in this section of the National
Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide with the most
current data available. These overviews can be used through-
out the year as handouts for community awareness projects,
in presentations to elected officials and policymakers, as
part of an awareness campaign’s media pitch, and to remind
crime victims that they are not alone in their experience.
INTERPRETING CRIME STATISTICSCrime in the United States is largely measured by two
federal research programs administered by the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice: the National Crime Victimization Survey
(NCVS), conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS); and the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), conducted
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The NCVS
and UCR use different methodologies and focus on some-
what different aspects of crime. Both federal research pro-
grams cover a similar subset of serious crimes, however, and
use similar definitions for some of these crimes.
The National Crime Victimization Survey, the na-
tion’s primary source of information on criminal victim-
ization, is an annual study of a nationally representative,
randomly selected sample of residential addresses through-
out the nation. Each year, the NCVS interviews roughly
100,000 individuals ages 12 and older in about 49,000
households. BJS uses the survey results to estimate the
likelihood of victimization by rape/sexual assault, robbery,
assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft
for the population as a whole, as well as for segments of the
population such as women, the elderly, members of various
racial groups, city dwellers, or other groups. The NCVS
also includes detailed information about the characteristics
of the victims, the crime incidents, whether the crime was
reported to police, why the crime was or was not reported,
the impact of crimes, and the characteristics of violent of-
fenders. The NCVS does not break down results to the state
or local level.
The Uniform Crime Reports are based upon local
police statistics collected annually by the FBI. This survey
covers murder, which is not measured by the NCVS, as
well as commercial crimes such as robberies and burglar-
ies, which cannot be measured in a household survey. The
UCR reports crimes under two categories: Part I (murder
and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle
theft, and arson) and Part II (simple assault, curfew offens-
es, embezzlement, forgery and counterfeiting, disorderly
conduct, and a number of other crimes). Because the UCR
is compiled from local police data, it provides information
on crime rates at the city, county, and state level. The UCR
covers only crimes reported to police—just under half of all
crimes. Also, if multiple crimes are reported in one criminal
incident, the UCR counts only the most serious crime (as
defined by criteria set by the UCR program).
What’s Inside• Overview of Crime and
Victimization• Campus Crime• Child Victimization• Cost of Crime• Disabilities and
Victimization• Domestic/Intimate Partner
Violence• Drunk and Drugged Driving• Elder Victimization• Hate and Bias Crime
Victimization• Homicide• Human Trafficking
• Identity Theft and Financial
Crime• Internet Victimization• Mental Health
Consequences of Crime• School Crime and
Victimization• Sexual Violence• Stalking• Substance Abuse and Crime
Victimization• Teen Victimization• Terrorism• Workplace Violence• Youth Exposure to Violence
Overview of Crime and Victimization
In 2009, 20 million crimes were committed in the United States;
of these, 4.3 million were violent and 15.6 million were property
crimes.1About half (49 percent) of violent crimes and 40 percent of property crimes were reported to the police.2In 2009, youth ages 12 to 24 had the highest rate of victimiza-
tion.3During a one-year period, 60.6 percent of children and youth
from birth to 17 years of age experienced at least one direct or
indirect (as a witness) victimization.4Almost half (46.3 percent) of children and youth from birth to
17 years of age experienced a physical assault, one in four (24.6
percent) a property offense, 1 in 10 (10.2 percent) child maltreat-
ment, and 6.1 percent a sexual victimization.5An estimated 15,241 persons were murdered nationwide in 2009,
a 7.3 percent decline from 2008.6Of female murder victims in 2009, 35 percent were killed by an
intimate partner.7During 2009, 121,613 persons over the age of 65 were victims of
violent crime.8In 2009, nearly 11 million adults became victims of identity
fraud, up from 10 million in 2008.9In 2009, victims ages 12 or older experienced a total of 125,910
rapes or sexual assaults.10
In 2008, 7,783 hate crime incidents were reported to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation by local law enforcement agencies.11
The most comprehensive comorbidity study to date showed that
lifetime prevalence of other psychological disorders in male and
female crime victims with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTDS)
is 88 and 79 percent, respectively. The most common comorbid
disorders are depression, substance abuse, and phobia.12In 2009, 90,957 crimes were reported to police on the college
and university campuses that report to the Uniform Crime Re-
port; 97 percent were property crimes, and three percent violent
crimes.13In 2009, 10,999 terrorist attacks occurred, resulting in 14,971
deaths, 32,664 wounded, and 10,507 people taken hostage.14
According to the U.S. Department of State, there are 12.3 million
adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced
prostitution around the world.15In 2009, violent crimes by intimate partners (current or former
spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend) accounted for 26 percent of non-
fatal violent crimes against females and 5 percent against males.16In 2008, there were 11,773 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities (32
percent of all traffic fatalities) involving a driver with a blood-
alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or greater, a decline of nearly 10
percent from 2007.17
During a one-year period, 3.4 million people ages 18 or older in
the United States were stalked.18
In the first half of 2010, spyware infections prompted 617,000
U.S. households to replace their computers. One out of every 11
households surveyed had a major problem due to spyware, with
damages totaling $1.2 billion.19
In 2009, 521 workplace homicides occurred in the United States
accounting for 12 percent of all workplace fatalities.20
Victim compensation programs distributed $478 million in
2009. This amount is an increase over the $453 million paid in
2007 and $444 million paid in 2006.21
1 Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Criminal Victimization, 2009,” (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice, 2010), 1, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv09.pdf
(accessed November 3, 2010).
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., Table 5, 7.4 David Finkelhor et al, “Violence, Abuse, and Crime Exposure in a
National Sample of Children and Youth,” Pediatrics 124, no. 5 (2009):
3, http://www.sp2.upenn.edu/fieldctr/current_issues/documents/
ViolenceAbuseandCrimeExposureinaNationalSampleofChildrenandYouth.pdf
(accessed September 23, 2010).
5 Ibid.
6 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States, 2009: Murder,”
(Washington, DC: GPO, 2010), http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_
crime/murder_homicide.html (accessed October 28, 2010).
7 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States, 2009: Expanded
Homicide Data,” (Washington, DC: GPO, 2010), calculated from Tables 2 and 10, http://
www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2009 (accessed October 18, 2010).
8 Data extrapolated from Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Criminal Victimization, 2009,”
Table 5, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice), http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/
content/pub/pdf/cv09.pdf (accessed October 26, 2010).
9 Javelin Strategy and Research, “2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report: Consumer
Version,” (Pleasanton, CA: Javelin, 2010), 5, https://www.javelinstrategy.com/uploads/files/1004.R_2010IdentityFraudSurveyConsumer.pdf (accessed August 13, 2010).
10 Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Criminal Victimization, 2009,” (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice, 2010), Table 1, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv09.
pdf (accessed October 26, 2010).
11 Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Hate Crime Statistics, 2008,” (Washington, DC: GPO,
2009), Table 1, http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2008 (accessed
October 6, 2010).
12 Dean G. Kilpatrick and Ron Acierno, “Mental Health Needs of Crime Victims:
Epidemiology and Outcomes,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 16 (2003): 129, http://www.
nctsnet.org/nctsn_assets/articles/65.pdf (accessed August 26, 2010).
13 Data calculated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States,
2009, Table 9,” (Washington, DC: GPO, 2010), http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/
data/documents/09tbl09.xls (accessed September 22, 2010). Note: Only about 570
campuses (many of which are public colleges and universities) report to the Uniform
Crime Report.
14 National Counterterrorism Center, “2009 Report on Terrorism,” (Washington, DC: GPO,
2010), 9, 13, 14, http://www.nctc.gov/witsbanner/docs/2009_report_on_terrorism.pdf
(accessed October 7, 2010).
15 U.S. Department of State, “Trafficking in Persons Report: 10th Edition,” (Washington,
DC: GPO, 2010), 7, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/142979.pdf
(accessed November 12, 2010).
16 Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Criminal Victimization, 2009,” (Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Justice, 2010), 7, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv09.pdf
(accessed October 28, 2010).
17 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Traffic Safety Facts: Alcohol Impaired
Driving,” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation, 2010), 1, http://www-
nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811155.PDF (accessed September 10, 2010).
18 Katrina Baum, Shannan Catalano, Michael Rand, and Kristina Rose, “Stalking
Victimization in the United States,” (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics,
2009), 1, calculated from data on p. 2, http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/stalking-
victimization.pdf (accessed October 6, 2010).
19 Consumer Reports, “State of the Net, 2010,” http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/
magazine-archive/2010/june/electronics-computers/social-insecurity/state-of-the-
net-2010/index.htm (accessed August 25, 2010).
20 Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2009,”
(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor, 2010), 7, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/
pdf/cfoi.pdf (accessed September 28, 2010).
21 National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, “Facts About Crime
Victim Compensation,” (Alexandria, VA: NACVCB, 2009), http://www.nacvcb.org
(accessed September 28, 2010).
Campus Crime
In 2009, 90,957 crimes were reported to police on the college
and university campuses that report to the Uniform Crime Re-
port; 97 percent were property crimes, and three percent violent
crimes.1Of the violent crimes reported on college campuses, 1,419 (53
percent) were aggravated assaults, 796 (30 percent) were robber-
ies, 459 (17 percent) were forcible rapes, and eight (0.3 percent)
were murder or non-negligent manslaughter.2Theft was the most prevalent form of property crime, with
74,809 incidents (accounting for 85 percent of property crime),
followed by 11,363 burglaries (13 percent), 2,197 motor vehicle
thefts (two percent), and 353 incidents of arson (0.4 percent).3An estimated 12 percent of women attending American colleges
have been raped, and 12 percent of rapes of college women were
reported to law enforcement.4Fourteen percent of undergraduate women were victims of at
least one completed sexual assault since entering college; five per-
cent were victims of forced sexual assault, and eight percent were
sexually assaulted while they were incapacitated due to voluntary
use of alcohol or drugs.5Sixteen percent of victims of forcible assaults, and eight percent
of incapacitated victims, sought help from a crisis, health, or
victims’ center after they were sexually assaulted.6
Thirteen percent of victims of forcible assaults, and two percent
of victims of assaults while incapacitated, reported their assault to
a law enforcement agency (municipal, local, or city police or 911;
campus police or security; county sheriff; state police; or other
police).7In a national study on violent victimization among college stu-
dents ages 18 to 24 from 1995 to 2002, this group experienced
violence at average annual rates lower than those for non-students
in the same age group.8
The same study found that about 4 in 10 violent crimes against
college students were committed by offenders who were per-
ceived by victims to be using drugs or alcohol.9
This study found that male college students were twice as likely to
be victims of overall violence than female students.10This study also found that white college students had somewhat
higher rates of violent victimization than black students, and
higher rates than students of other races.11College students who were victims of rape or sexual assault were
about four times more likely to be victimized by someone they
knew than by a stranger.12About 8 in 10 robberies of college students were committed by
strangers, compared to about 6 in 10 assaults and 2 in 10 rapes or
sexual assaults.13About 35 percent of violent victimizations against college stu-
dents were reported to the police.14Most crimes against students (93 percent) occurred off campus;
of those, 72 percent occurred at night.15In 2006, reported crimes occurring in on-campus residence halls
included 1,923 forcible sex offenses, 975 aggravated assaults, and
22 non-forcible sex offenses.16Hate and bias crimes reported on school and college campuses
made up 12 percent of all hate and bias crimes reported in the
United States in 2007.17
1 Data calculated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States,
2009, Table 9,” (Washington, DC: GPO, 2010), http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/
data/documents/09tbl09.xls (accessed September 22, 2010). Note: Only about 570
campuses (many of which are public colleges and universities) report to the Uniform
Crime Report.
2 Ibid
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