Virginia

The National Association of Crime Victims Compensation Boards is an organization of state government victim compensation programs that addresses victim compensation issues on a national basis.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Victim Services Committee supports cooperation and assistance between law enforcement and other crisis intervention providers to improve services and treatment for crime victims. It encourages training for law enforcement officers to raise awareness of, and sensitivity to victims’ issues and will help provide and maintain police-based victim services units. IACP also promotes legislation that increases funding for such training and services.

The IACP, with the support of the Office on Violence Against Women, has developed the Police Response to Violence Against Women Project (PRVAW) and the National Law Enforcement Leadership Initiative on Violence Against Women.

The National Leadership Initiative is designed to increase capacity of law enforcement agencies to effectively respond to violence against women through the creation of a National Law Enforcement Leadership Institute series and a Trainer Development Program. The Leadership Institutes provide law enforcement executives an opportunity to assess their agency’s current response to crimes of violence against women and design strategies to improve their ability to meet the needs of their community. The Trainer Development Program builds core training skills and enhances effectiveness of instructors who educate law enforcement about crimes against women.

The Police Response to Violence Against Women Project focuses on the development of tools, policies and training to assist law enforcement in responding effectively to all Violence Against Women crimes. Work is currently underway on a multifaceted Law Enforcement Program on Sexual Assault to address misperceptions about victims and the nature of the crime itself, and standardize best practices for investigation and evidence management. Under this project, the IACP recently released a training package on the crime of Human Trafficking to include a guidebook and roll-call training video.

The Institute for Law and Justice (ILJ) is a private corporation dedicated to consulting, research, evaluation, and training in criminal justice. Since 1979, ILJ has served more than 600 clients, including cities, counties, states, federal agencies, associations, foundations, and private industry. Their mission is to bring the best of criminal justice research and practice to the field through organizational development, innovative research, expert evaluation, detailed planning, new technologies, and effective training, The ILJ professional staff brings high academic credentials and field experience to every job. Services are custom-tailored to meet local needs and operating environments and to address management concerns into the 21st century.

The Feminist Majority Foundation encourages women to seek leadership positions in all sectors of society and promotes a national and international feminist agenda including reproductive rights, combating sexual harassment and violence against women, empowering women internationally, and gender balancing all professions.

The Victims’ Assistance Legal Organization (VALOR) was founded in 1979 as a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the legal rights of crime victims in the civil, criminal, and juvenile justice systems. VALOR has provided leadership on research and reform in the areas of restitution, child abuse, juvenile justice, sentencing, and parole, and has served, since 1995, as the lead grantee for the OVC-funded and sponsored project, the National Victim Assistance Academy.

The National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse is a program of the American Prosecutors Research Institute that was established to improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse. It focuses on training and expert legal assistance to prosecutors and investigators handling criminal child abuse and sexual exploitation cases.