Domestic and Sexual Violence in Virginia - Virginia Attorney General

In 2007, sexual violence service providers in 39 sexualassault crisis centers across the Commonwealth respondedto 12,535 crisis situations and provided 2,703 adult andchild victims with 42,108 hours of advocacy services inan effort to ease the emotional trauma to victims and tofacilitate the reporting process. 40 Of the children whoreceived services in local crisis centers, the majority (60%)were under the age of twelve. 41 (Figure 9)In addition to domestic violence and sexual assaultprograms, local and state victim-witness programs providedirect services to victims of crime, including victims ofdomestic and sexual violence. Victim-witness programsprovide information and referrals, support throughoutthe criminal justice process, assistance with victims’compensation claims from the Criminal Injuries CompensationFund, and personal advocacy. The Departmentof Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) administers grantfunding to 102 local victim-witness programs and fourstate-level victim-witness programs.In 2007, victim-witness programs provided servicesto 71,247 crime victims across the Commonwealth,including 19,025 victims of domestic violence. 42 Theseprograms also provided services to 1,705 adult victimsand 2,989 child victims of sexual assault. 43Services to Children Who WitnessDomestic ViolenceProviding services to children who witness domesticviolence in the home is critical due to the lifelong effectthat domestic violence may have on a child. Fifty-threepercent (53%) of the children who received servicesfrom local domestic violence programs in 2007 directlywitnessed violence in the home. In addition, 21% ofchildren had been emotionally abused or neglected, 14%had been physically abused, and 6% had been sexuallyabused. 44In 2006, a statewide “needs assessment” was conductedby the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence ActionAlliance (VSDVAA) and the Department of SocialServices (DSS), Office of Family Violence. Data fromthe needs assessment indicated a gap in services for youthexposed to domestic violence and a lack of sufficientservices offered to youth in community settings. As aresult, VSDVAA developed a curriculum for domesticviolence advocates on effective advocacy services for6