Assessing Justice System Response to Violence Against Women: A Tool for Law Enforcement, Prosecution and the Courts to Use in Developing Effective Responses

• NCJ Number: 221760
• Author(s): Kristin Littel M.A.; Mary B. Malefyt J.D.; Alexandra Walker; Sarah M. Buel J.D.; Deborah D. Tucker M.P.A
• Date Published: February 1998
• Length: 69 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-WT-VX-K001
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Minnesota Ctr Against Violence & Abuse (MINCAVA)
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded on January 27, 2008

Annotation

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Violence Against Women Grants Office, this report is offered as an assessment tool for law enforcement, the prosecution, and the courts in developing effective responses to violence against women.

Abstract

While an increasing number of jurisdictions have undertaken initiatives in recent years to respond to sexual assault and domestic violence, the efforts are sporadic. Laws protecting victims and holding offenders accountable vary, limited numbers of criminal justice personnel are trained to enforce the law, and only some communities have embraced a coordinated response to reduce violence against women with clear strategies for intervention. In 1997, the Violence Against Women Grants Office (VAWGO), in cooperation with the STOP Violence Against Women Grants Technical Assistance Project, launched an initiative to identify and develop promising practices. The initiative is geared to help communities respond to the challenge of stopping violence against women. The end result of this initiative will be a manual on victim safety planning and practices responding to violence against women from the perspective of law enforcement, prosecution, the courts, and victim services, practices on building coordinated responses, descriptions identifying a problem and addressing the problem, and a proposed action plan to put the practice in place. However, this assessment tool was created as a precursor to the manual offering law enforcement, prosecution, and courts checklists describing the basic roles of these three areas in responding to violence against women. In addition to the checklists, State and local program examples are presented where agencies coordinated and collaborated with other justice systems agencies and community-based advocacy programs. Agencies are encouraged to check off responses that their jurisdiction performs with success and make note of gaps in the current agency response to violence against women, and review the selected programs, illustrating elements of agency responses often utilizing innovative and replicable strategies.