NCJ Number
123637
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1989) Pages: 171-175
Date Published
1989
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The Women's Movement, principally through its focus on the rights of rape victims, has fueled the Victims' Rights Movement by demonstrating that citizens can change the criminal justice system to be more responsive to the needs of crime victims.
Abstract
The Victims' Movement may well have received a primary impetus when a group of radical feminists met in New York in 1971 at a "speak-out" workshop. These women examined the social, legal, and psychological issues associated with rape and vowed to take action to change the culture's and legal system's attitude toward rape and rape victims. Because the Women's Movement demonstrated how sexual assault victims have been held responsible for their victimization, the public and the criminal justice system were prepared to look at the criminal justice system's response to other crime victims. Rape crisis centers, begun as a grassroots effort by women to provide rape victims with appropriate services, have been models for crime victim advocacy and services.