CVS’s work includes:

• Serving Survivors with Disabilities and Deaf Survivors
  Disability organizations often lack the resources needed to safely respond to domestic and sexual violence; victim services are often unable to address the access needs of people with disabilities. CVS’s Accessing Safety Initiative promotes collaborations between disability and victim service organizations and enhances organizational capacity to serve Deaf survivors and survivors with disabilities.  
• Addressing Domestic Violence in Supervised Visitation Programs for Families
  During custody proceedings, batterers often use access to children to continue to batter, control, stalk, and intimidate their victims. Providers of supervised visitation and safe exchange services need to understand the dynamics of battering and be equipped to intervene appropriately. CVS’s Supervised Visitation Initiative is helping the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women enhance its supports for supervised visitation programs in ways that ensure the safety of domestic violence victims and their children.  
• Responding to sexual assault in a correctional facility requires great skill, coordination, and sensitivity, as well as an understanding of the unique challenges presented by a confined setting. In its 2009 national standards and final report, the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission called on correctional facilities to develop a sexual assault response protocol based on the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2004 National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adults/Adolescents. CVS’s Sexual Assault Forensic Protocol Project is working with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to develop a guide for prisons, jails, residential community corrections, and lockups for adapting the national protocol to these environments.  
• Analyzing Enduring Challenges in the Crime Victim Services Field
  Although great strides have been made in victim services over the past several decades, crime and violence continue to affect a significant number of people in the United States each year. A variety of critical services exist for some victims of crime; however, many marginalized people who experience violence often fail to receive adequate resources, support, and treatment options. Vision 21: Transforming Victim Services seeks to expand the vision and impact of the crime victim services field in order to meet the needs of all crime victims. It aims to do so by strategically defining the role of the crime victims’ field in national efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of communities. Vision 21 is a collaborative effort among the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), the Vera Institute of Justice, and four other project partners.

Why We Do This Work

Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are serious public health issues that affect millions of women, children, and men in the United States.

• 1 in 4 women have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime.¹
• 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men have experienced an attempted or completed rape.²
• 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys have been sexually abused before the age of 18.³
• 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men have been stalked in their lifetime.⁴

As more is learned about these forms of violence and successful interventions, criminal justice and social service delivery systems must adapt to respond to the changing nature of violence and abuse. They must also become increasingly sensitive to those who are affected and adopt practices that can best meet their needs and, ultimately, end violence altogether. The Center on Victimization and Safety combines research, planning, and technical assistance to facilitate this process.

For more information about Vera’s Center on Victimization and Safety, contact center director Nancy Smith. 

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¹Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “Extent, Nature and Consequences of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey,” (2000). 
²U.S. Department of Justice, “Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women,” November 1998. 
³U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Adverse Childhood Experiences Study.” 
⁴Tjaden, Patricia & Thoennes, Nancy. (1998). “Stalking in America.” National Institute for Justice.