This Is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week

This week, 18-24 April, is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which has been designated as a time for Americans to learn about victimization, to reflect on the cost of crime to society, and to promote laws, policies, and programs to help victims of crime rebuild their lives.

This year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week theme is "Crime Victims’ Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect." This theme is designed to remind us of the core rights that all crime victims want and deserve – the right to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect. The theme also helps bring to mind the ideals that inspired the decades-long struggle of the crime victims’ rights movement.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week serves to remind us that crime can strike anyone. Whether it’s a drive-by shooting, a campus massacre, an identity theft, or a purse snatch, we are all vulnerable to crime. In this sense, victims’ rights are everyone’s rights. As the National Association of Attorneys General reminds us, over the last 25 years, improvements have been made in the advancement of crime victims’ rights through legislation and awareness. As of 2010, every state has passed victims’ rights laws, each state has a victim compensation fund, and more than 10,000 victim assistance programs exist throughout the country. Such changes have made available resources and assistance available to crime victims as they rebuild their lives.

For information related to National Crime Victims' Rights Week, visit Crimevictims.gov:
     Crimevictims.gov

Presidential Proclmation:
     Presidential Proclamation-National Crime Victims Week

Reminder: It also is a good thing to pray for crime victims, those who are ministering to them in any way, and the perpetrators of these crimes.