Domestic and Sexual Violence in Virginia - Virginia Attorney General

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Office of the Attorney General. This Program is designedto protect victims of domestic violence by authorizingthe use of substitute address for receipt of mail andservice. Effective July 1, 2008, the Address ConfidentialityProgram is available to victims who reside in theCounties of Albemarle, Arlington, Augusta, Dickenson,Fairfax, Henry, Lee, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Washington,and Wise as well as the Cities of Buena Vista,Charlottesville, Lexington, Martinsville, Norfolk, andRoanoke. An interested victim may apply for the programin person at a local domestic violence program,which is a public and not-for-profit agency which hasthe primary mission of providing services to victims ofsexual or domestic violence.Domestic Violence ArrestPolices for Law EnforcementEstablishes §9.1-1300 of the Code of Virginia. EffectiveJuly 1, 2008, the Virginia Department of State Police andlocal law enforcement agencies are required to establisharrest policies and procedures for response to domesticviolence and family abuse cases.Sexual Assault Policies forLaw EnforcementEstablishes §9.1-1301 of the Code of Virginia. EffectiveJuly 1, 2008, the Virginia Department of State Police, locallaw enforcement agencies and campus police departmentsare required to establish written policies and proceduresregarding response to incidents involving sexual assault.The Department of Criminal Justice Services shallprovide law enforcement agencies with technical supportand assistance in developing the policies.Training Standards and ModelPolicy for Law EnforcementAmends §9.1-102 of the Code of Virginia. Effective July1, 2008, the Department of Criminal Justice Servicesis required to establish training standards and publish amodel policy for law-enforcement personnel in thehandling of family abuse, domestic violence, sexual assaultand stalking cases, including standards for determiningthe predominant physical aggressor in accordance with§19.2-81.3. The Department shall provide technicalsupport and assistance to law-enforcement agencies incarrying out the requirements set forth in §9.1-1301 andshall, by December 1, 2009, submit a report on the statusof implementation of these requirements to the chairmenof the House and Senate Courts of Justice CommitteesTwenty Year Retention ofRecords in Domestic Violence CasesAmends §§16.1-69.55 and 17.1-213 of the Code ofVirginia to extend the retention time for domesticviolence cases. Effective July 1, 2008, records in casesinvolving misdemeanor convictions for (i) assault andbattery against a family or household member, or (ii) violationof a protective order, shall be retained for twentyyears. Records of felony convictions of domestic violencewill also be retained for twenty years.Creation of an AdultFatality Review TeamEstablishes §32.1-283.5 of the Code of Virginia. EffectiveJuly 1, 2008, an Adult Fatality Review Team is establishedto develop and implement procedures for the systematicreview of certain adult deaths that occur in the Commonwealth.The Adult Fatality Review Team shall reviewthe death of any adult, as defined in §63.2-1603, (i) whowas the subject of an adult protective services investigation,(ii) whose death was due to abuse or neglect, or actssuggesting abuse or neglect, or (iii) whose death cameunder the jurisdiction of or was investigated by the Officeof the Chief Medical Examiner pursuant to §32.1-283.Stalking Victims May Recover fromVictims Compensation FundAmends definition of victim under §19.2-368.2 of theCode of Virginia. Effective July 1, 2008, victims ofstalking are eligible to collect funds from the CriminalInjuries Compensation Fund.Repeal of Marriage as anAbsolute Defense to Statutory RapeRepeals §18.2-66 of the Code of Virginia. Effective July1, 2008, the subsequent marriage of an adult to a minor(14 years or older) is not a defense to statutory rape ofthat child.30
FutureRecommendationsAs evidenced in this Report, agencies, organizations,programs, and communities across theCommonwealth work on a daily basis to enhance thesafety of victims of domestic and sexual violence and tohold offenders accountable. As part of the effort to addressdomestic and sexual violence in our communities, it isnecessary to identify needs and make recommendationsfor future initiatives and identify areas of concern or focus.The following recommendations reflect issues identifiedby agencies and organizations with a direct role in theprevention of and response to domestic and sexual violence.These recommendations also reflect issues identifiedduring the compilation of this Report, including issuesrelated to data collection and cooperative efforts amongstakeholders.Recommendation 1.Data Collection and Analysis:The collection of data for domestic and sexual violenceissues is critical to the evaluation process. Currently, stateagencies and other groups that collect data do not coordinatethat process. Consequently, a data work group ofstakeholder agency representatives should be formalized.This work group should (1) identify gaps in data collection;(2) establish consistent definitions and indicators for useby all agencies for data collection and tracking purposes;and (3) identify a central repository for the collection andanalysis of data related to domestic and sexual violence.This 2008 Report reflects a different format from previousyears. State agencies and stakeholders agreed to dedicatetime and energy to restructure the Report to providemore information to the reader. To compile this report, inSeptember 2008, the Office of the Attorney General assembleda data working group including representatives fromthe Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Office ofthe Chief Medical Examiner, the Office of the ExecutiveSecretary of the Virginia Supreme Court, the VirginiaPoverty Law Center, the Virginia Department of StatePolice, and the Virginia Sexual and Domestic ViolenceAction Alliance. The group discussed issues related to thecollection and tracking of data for domestic and sexualviolence crimes, court cases, and services for victims. Inreviewing the types and sources of available data, the workgroup identified gaps, overlaps, and definition issues in datacollection practices among agencies. The work group alsodetermined that there was no central repository for domesticand sexual violence statistics and data in the Commonwealththat was available to agencies or lawmakers forplanning, analyzing, and providing services and programs.As a result, it is recommended that the work group beformalized and encouraged to continue its efforts in thenext calendar year. This group should be tasked withresolving the data collection and tracking issues identifiedby agency participants.Recommendation 2.Collaborative Efforts:This Report demonstrates the collaborative efforts of manyagencies and groups dedicated to addressing and combatingdomestic and sexual violence. It is recommended that theCommonwealth continue to promote collaborative effortsbetween stakeholders at all levels of government, includingcoordinated community response teams on the local leveland fatality review teams on the state and local level.Interagency communication and collaboration is essentialto providing services and resources to victims and inenhancing the systemic approach to address domestic andsexual violence. For example, coordinated communityresponse teams provide a forum for collaboration andinformation-sharing at the local level. Multidisciplinaryfatality review teams review the circumstances of domesticviolence fatalities as well as make recommendations forenhancing the systemic response to domestic violencein a community. State-level collaborative efforts, such asthe Virginia GEAP Partnership, improve communicationbetween state agencies and organizations. The partnership31
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Page 6 and 7: ExecutiveSummaryOn a daily basis, d
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Page 11 and 12: Table 1: Children Present During Fa
Page 13 and 14: Source: Domestic Violence Services
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Page 23 and 24: tims of domestic violence who have
Page 25 and 26: developed pursuant to Senate Bill 2
Page 27 and 28: improve the functioning and effecti
Page 29 and 30: Virginia Department of Health,Divis
Page 31 and 32: grant assists homeless families in
Page 33 and 34: To accomplish its mission, VSDVAA r
Page 35 and 36: COLLABORATIVE EFFORTSIn addition to
Page 37: 2008 LegislativeUpdateDuring the 20
Page 42 and 43: 5Virginia Sexual and Domestic Viole
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Page 48 and 49: Domestic Violenceand Sexual Assault
Page 50 and 51: Carroll CountyFamily Resource Cente
Page 52 and 53: Greene CountySexual Assault Resourc
Page 54 and 55: Mecklenburg CountyMadeline’s Hous
Page 56 and 57: Total Action Against PovertyWomen
Page 58 and 59: Crisis CenterP.O. Box 642Bristol, V
Page 60 and 61: Local FatalityReview TeamsChesterfi
Page 64: The design and printing of this Ann

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