Every April, the issue of crime victims gets the spotlight during National Crime Victims Rights Week or NCVRW.
A national focus on crime victims goes back to 1965. Since then, more local organizations have been created and grown. Federal legislation, court decisions, and in-depth studies have helped strengthen the work of assisting crime victims. Enhanced by governmental action, local crime victim programs began to grow in the 1960s with some of their most significant growth in the 1980s.
According to the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey, U.S. residents age 12 or older experienced 3.1 million violent victimizations, and U.S. households experienced an estimated 13.3 million property crimes in 2017.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Review the rights of crime victims at victimsofcrime.org. Follow on Facebook. Use #NCVRW and #CrimeVictimsRightsWeek to share on social media.
HISTORY
In 1975, the first “Victims’ Rights Week” was organized by the Philadelphia District Attorney. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first national “Crime Victims Week” in April of 1981. Each year in April, the Office for Victims of Crime division of the U.S. Department of Justice leads communities in their annual observances of National Crime Victims Rights Week or NCVRW.
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