Victim Advocacy

Victim advocacy refers to the organized efforts of individuals, groups, and agencies to support people harmed by crime or abuse, secure their rights, and influence the institutions that respond to them. Advocacy takes many forms, including emotional support, practical assistance, accompaniment through police and court processes, referral to housing, health, and legal services, and campaigns for policy reform. Its modern growth is closely tied to the victims’ movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which drew on feminist activism, the establishment of rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters, and growing criticism that the criminal justice system neglected those it was meant to protect. Nils Christie’s essay on the ideal victim examined how social status shapes who is recognized as a legitimate victim, while Stephen Schafer and Marvin Wolfgang helped establish victimology as a field. Howard Zehr and the restorative justice movement argued that justice should address victims’ needs and harms. Critics, including David Garland, have cautioned that political appeals to victims can fuel punitive policies. Victim advocacy remains central to debates about gender violence, institutional trust, legal reform, and the balance between victims’ interests and defendants’ rights.