Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • How a Cincinnati domestic violence survivor got the help she needed to break the cycle

    Dvert is a partnership between Cincinnati police and Women Helping Women, a social services agency that puts domestic-violence survivors in touch with an advocate from the moment they report abuse. Advocates can provide for survivors' immediate needs, including childcare and safe shelter. They provide counseling and support to survivors throughout the prosecution of a case, should the survivor choose to pursue that remedy. More women have found the strength to pursue prosecutions, which advocates hope will ultimately keep more women safer than if they drop a complaint and reconcile with an abusive partner.

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  • He befriended his brother's murderer. In each other, they found healing

    Since the 1990s, California prisons' victim-aid office has arranged for crime victims to meet with the incarcerated people who harmed them or their family members. These victim-offender dialogues, a restorative-justice method offering alternative forms of accountability, have helped survivors heal by providing information they could not glean from the traditional justice process. Some have also experienced reconciliation and forgiveness. Only victims can initiate the process, and most incarcerated people are deemed ineligible after screening and preparation for the face-to-face dialogues.

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  • Breakdown Or Adjust: Social Workers Find New Ways To Tackle Their Mental Health Problems

    Social workers supporting victims of violence saw a marked improvement in mental health after the introduction of therapy sessions. The services were specifically tailored to help staff cope with the stressors of their job. Combining mental health support for employees at the nonprofit has enabled them to handle the specific challenges of helping others through their traumas.

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  • #EndSARS: Impact Of Judicial Panels In Facilitating Justice For Victims Of Police Brutalities

    Protests against alleged brutality and extrajudicial killings by Nigeria's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) led to demands for judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the abuses and provide justice to victims. Of Nigeria's 36 states, 29 set up panels of inquiry, and seven of those submitted reports and recommendations. Some victims have been compensated for illegal arrests and beatings. While critics say these measures don't go far enough, they concede the reports and payments have provided at least some accountability.

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  • A tall order

    The Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Program and Nutrition Rehabilitation Home in Kathmandu provide resources to children experiencing, or at risk for, malnutrition, which has long been a life-threatening issue in Nepal.

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  • Undocumented crime victims who assist police are often denied help in getting visa

    Congress created the U visa program in 2000 to encourage undocumented immigrants to report crimes to the police and cooperate with investigations and prosecutions. The visa legalizes an immigrant's status, if certified by a law enforcement agency and approved by the federal government. Some police departments, like Whitehall, Ohio's, routinely reject requests for certification because they want to avoid entanglements in immigration matters, or simply because they are anti-immigrant. No national rules require agencies to comply with the system, though some states do.

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  • Marsy's Law was supposed to help victims. In Jacksonville, it shields police officers.

    A Florida constitutional amendment enacted in 2018 called Marsy's Law protects crime victims' rights, including the right to privacy when public-records laws would otherwise reveal victims' identity. But the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has interpreted a court decision to justify erasing from public records the names of police officers who shot or killed people, on the grounds that the police should legally be considered crime victims. Marsy's Law has been enacted in 14 states. Critics say it was not meant to undermine police accountability, but they have been unable to enact corrective legislation.

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  • Can ‘Bad Men' Ever Change?

    Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

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  • Illinois Has a Program to Compensate Victims of Violent Crimes. Few Applicants Receive Funds.

    As one of the oldest programs of its kind, the Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Program was created in 1973 to reimburse victims of crime and their families for their out-of-pocket expenses, such as funeral and medical costs. An analysis of nearly 15,000 claims filed from 2015 to 2020 shows that only 1 in 50 people who reported a violent crime ever applied for aid, and of those who did only 40% received any aid. A laborious application and documentation process compounds a lack of notice to the public of the program's existence to result in a program that has failed in its primary mission.

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  • Barred From Her Own Home: How a Tool for Fighting Domestic Abuse Fails

    Stay-away orders are a tool New York judges can use to protect victims from their abusers even before accusations get scrutinized in court. They grew out of a reform movement that urged police and prosecutors to take domestic violence more seriously. But they have become a form of summary justice, routinely issued upon the filing of a complaint without proper vetting. They have wrecked families and cost people their homes and jobs based on what turn out to be flimsy or false accusations. New York courts and legislators are considering proposals to fix the system.

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