Sexual aSSault LEGAL ADVOCACY MANUAL - Texas Association ...

The Importance of Civil Law
Introduction
People do not often associate the civil legal system with sexually violent crime. Civil law usually involves
things like contract disputes, discrimination lawsuits, malpractice, and dollar awards. All of those can be
very serious, but most people view crimes like rape as an entirely separate matter. However, the reality is
that most sexual assault survivors will have needs arising under civil law as a result of the crimes against
them. In fact, the vast majority of survivors will never see their attackers apprehended and convicted.
Therefore, civil remedies often are much more important to the survivor than the criminal process.
To understand why, consider for a moment the purposes of the criminal justice system. What is it
designed to accomplish? Primarily, it serves retribution by punishing offenders. That punishment also
prevents and deters other potential offenders from committing crimes. In addition, convictions allow the
state to keep victims and society safe from offenders by locking them away. Finally, the criminal justice
system can provide the victims of crime with closure—the sense of completion that comes with seeing
that the perpetrator has paid consequences for his or her actions.
Compare, then, the functions of the criminal justice system with the actual needs of victims. To be sure,
many victims need the things the criminal justice system provides: safety, retribution, and closure. And the
rest of us need the justice system’s deterrent effects to discourage new assaults. However, survivors’ needs do
not end there. For example, unexpected financial burdens are almost universal for sexual assault survivors.
Costs can arise as direct results of an attack, or they can arise along the road to addressing other civil needs,
like medical treatment or new housing. Recouping costs, or making life changes in order to get by on less
money, can be matters of civil law. This second part of the manual will examine the most common ways civil
law becomes relevant to sexual assault survivors, as well as the roles of advocates in those circumstances.
Throughout the following discussions, bear in mind that often one or more of these civil legal issues will be
much more important to survivors than seeing their attackers convicted in criminal court. A critical part of
being a victim advocate is understanding that the remedies appropriate for some survivors are inappropriate
for others. For example, trauma from a rape might cause a survivor to have trouble performing at work,
and the survivor may not be able to afford the counseling and treatment she needs. In that case, she or he
likely will not want to devote energy to a criminal prosecution at the expense of getting assistance with
employment and healthcare.
Legal advocates need to be sensitive to survivors’ diverse needs. As an advocate, you sometimes play a
role within the criminal justice system, so it is very easy to become fixated on the criminal conviction
as your goal—and therefore the survivor’s goal. But despite the advocate’s role in the criminal justice
system, the advocate’s more fundamental responsibility is to be whatever the survivor needs her to be.
For some survivors that will mean focusing on the criminal investigation and prosecution, but many
others will have vastly different non-criminal needs, which can be every bit as important to their safety,
health, and financial stability. You might not always be equipped to provide the assistance yourself, but
effective advocates are prepared to provide appropriate referrals outside of the criminal justice system.
Therefore, it is imperative from the very first day an advocate meets with a survivor to begin defining
the survivor’s needs with an open mind. The survivor often will not know about civil remedies, so the
advocate must listen carefully to spot possible civil issues, not just make recommendations. Use the
concepts in this chapter as a baseline for serving all survivors—especially those who don’t know exactly
what they need.
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