NCJ Number
104962
Journal
Response to the Victimization of Women and Children Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (1986) Pages: 10-15
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A model statute, developed by the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime, sets forth the purposes and conditions for making victim-counselor communications legally privileged.
Abstract
Section 101 sets forth the rationale for privileged communication as a necessary component of the therapeutic relationship and extends this privilege to all victims of family violence and sexual assault. Section 102 titles the statute 'The Victim/Counselor Confidentiality Act.' Section 103 provides definitions for confidential communication, family violence, sexual assault, victim, victim counseling, victim counseling center, and victim counselor. The next section (104) delineates the scope and application of the statute and addresses child abuse and neglect reporting and counselor possession of evidence of a victim's intention to commit a crime. Section 105 establishes a privilege to protect confidential communication between victim and counselor and to protect identifying information about the counseling center. The final section, discussing waiver, is designed to encourage victims to provide information about a case before the court and precludes the victim's counselor from waiving the privilege. Enactment of such a statute should prove an aid to victim treatment and remove the uncertainty surrounding a judicially recognized privilege.