04/26/2023
⚖️ In honor of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we’re sharing some victims’ rights landmarks from the past year!
📜 The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act was signed into law on March 3, 2022, allowing people asserting claims of sexual harassment or assault to file suit despite the existence of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement or class or collective action wager.
📜 The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 was signed into law on March 15, 2022. In addition to reauthorizing grants associated with the act until 2027, the law expands special criminal jurisdiction of tribal courts to cover non-Native perpetrators, increases services for survivors from underserved and marginalized communities, creates a federal civil cause of action for people whose intimate images are disclosed without their consent, promotes trauma-informed, victim-centered training for law enforcement, and improves the healthcare system’s response to domestic violence and sexual assault, among other measures.
📜 The White House launched its Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse on June 16, 2022. The task force has created an initial blueprint, released in March 2023, with recommendations to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence through prevention, survivor support, accountability, and research.
📜 The Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2022 into law on January 5, 2023, creating new programs to prevent human trafficking, study the impact of social media on trafficking, help survivors, bolster law enforcement training and strengthen federal coordination, as well as reauthorizing existing programs.
🔗 And that’s just a few of many! Go to ovc.ojp.gov/ncvrw2023 to read more landmarks in victims’ rights and services from the past calendar year and even further back in history! That’s just one of many resources in this year’s Resource Guide, which is full of strategies and social media copy YOU can use to help raise awareness this week — and all year long!
