2024 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
OVC will lead the Nation during the annual National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) commemoration, April 21–27, 2024. Join OVC, victim service providers, allied professionals, and community members throughout the Nation as we commemorate NCVRW.
This year’s NCVRW theme is—
How would you help?
Options, services, and hope for crime survivors.
This theme is a call-to-action for us all to create safe environments for crime victims to share what happened to them. By doing so, we’re able to offer support, options for life-saving services, and, most importantly, hope.
2024 NCVRW Resource Guide
Use the 2024 NCVRW Resource Guide to help plan and implement your outreach through print media, web and social media, and in-person or virtual events. Discover compelling original artwork in various sizes and formats, some of which you can customize by adding your own organization’s information.
We’ve changed the structure of this year’s Resource Guide, so be sure to start with the new “How to Use the Guide” section to find the resources that will most benefit your awareness efforts.
Materials are available in English and select materials are available in Spanish.
Register to Attend OVC’s 2024 NCVRW Events
NCVRW Candlelight Vigil
Join OVC for the 2024 NCVRW Candlelight Vigil as we pay tribute to victims of crime and the many dedicated professionals and volunteers who advocate on their behalf. During the vigil, attendees will hear from this year’s guest speakers:
Anthony Edwards, Actor, Producer, Director
Chair, Board of Directors, 1in6
Brenda Glass, MSSA, LISW-S
Founder and Executive Director, Brenda Glass Multipurpose Trauma Center
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Time: 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., eastern time
Location: Washington, D.C.
National Crime Victims’ Service Awards Ceremony
During this ceremony, OVC will recognize individuals and organizations that demonstrate extraordinary acts of service on behalf of crime victims and outstanding work in victim services.
Date: Thursday, April 25, 2024
Time: 3:00 – 5:00 p.m., eastern time
Location: Washington, D.C.
Promote and Discover NCVRW Events
Visit our Events page to find NCVRW community awareness events, resource fairs, vigils, and other events across the Nation hosted by local service providers and allied professionals.
We also invite you to add your own event to our Events page. Your submission will be reviewed and, if approved, posted on the web for public view.
Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
In his Presidential Proclamation, President Biden states, “During National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, we recommit to standing with survivors, holding perpetrators accountable, and bringing an end to a culture that has allowed sexual assault to occur for far too long.”
View the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month website for posters, artwork, and other resources to raise awareness.
This month, we highlight the following OVC-funded initiatives.
National Sexual Assault Hotline (La Línea de Ayuda Nacional online de Abuso Sexual)
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) provides free, confidential hotline support services for English- and Spanish-speaking survivors of sexual assault. OVC awarded nearly $2 million to RAINN to meet increased demand these services, enhance staff training, conduct outreach to historically underserved and marginalized communities, and pilot a confidential text hotline.
Supporting Victims of Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA)
In FY 2023, OVC awarded $2 million to support the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative’s Image Abuse Helpline. The Initiative will use these funds to offer information and referrals, conduct physical safety assessments, offer guidance related to image searching, documenting evidence, image reporting, and image takedown, provide referrals to attorneys, and more. The project will also support efforts to raise awareness about the hotline and the services they provide.
OVC also awarded $500,000 in FY 2023 to the Sanar Institute to address the traumatic impact of IBSA through a combination of direct service, capacity building, training, and education. Among the project’s activities will be the creation of a standards of care protocol to guide stakeholders in serving survivors of IBSA.
WomensLaw Email Hotline
OVC helps fund the WomensLaw Email Hotline, which provides legal crisis intervention support using trauma-informed approaches that protect the safety and confidentiality of victims, including victims of sexual assault. Using funding from OVC, WomensLaw is working to increase awareness of and enhance access to its Spanish Email Hotline services.
StrongHearts Native Helpline
StrongHearts is a lifeline to Native American and Alaska Natives impacted by domestic and sexual violence by offering a culturally-appropriate, anonymous and confidential service available 24/7 nationwide. The hotline is funded in part by OVC.
Survivors.org
Survivors.org provides support and healing tools for survivors of sexual violence. This website can help survivors find local service providers, holistic healing resources, and community-specific support. This OVC-funded project is operated by PAVE (Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment).
VictimConnect Helpline
The OVC-funded VictimConnect Helpline is a place for crime victims, including victims of sexual assault, to learn about their rights and options, confidentially and compassionately.
Planned Updates to the Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault Toolkit
The OVC Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault Toolkit provides culturally sensitive, respectful care when working with transgender victims of sexual violence and their families. OVC recently awarded funding to FORGE to update the toolkit it developed in partnership with OVC in 2014. The updated toolkit will address all major types of violence and crime against transgender individuals, including a focus on the experience of transgender women and girls of color.
SANE Program Development and Operation Guide
The SANE Program Development and Operation Guide provides a blueprint for nurses and communities that would like to start a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) program. The guide is also a resource for established SANE programs that may want to enhance or expand their services.
Expanding Access to Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations
In FYs 2020-2022, OVC funded 24 projects to expand medical forensic care, advocacy, and other victim services to survivors of sexual assault. Early results from these efforts have been promising with nearly 4,000 individuals served as of June 2023. OVC funded an additional four projects in FY 2023.
SurvivorSpace
SurvivorSpace offers self-care and resiliency tips and tools for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Funded by OVC through a grant to the Zero Abuse Project, this website is a safe space for survivors informed by survivors. It offers visitors an opportunity to explore their options, use interactive tools to help them on their healing journey, connect with others, and more.
Training and Technical Assistance
OVC, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, offers the Strengthening Military-Civilian Community Partnerships to Respond to Sexual Assault training program through the OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC). This free, interactive 1.5-day program trains civilian and military professionals on building effective partnerships with local military installations to enhance and extend the system of support for sexual assault victims in the military.
OVC funds the International Association of Forensic Nurses to provide technical assistance to the field by sharing information, resources, and referrals and providing training on topics related to forensic nursing; adult, adolescent, and pediatric sexual assault; and related topics.
The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) offers training and technical assistance on providing services to victims of sexual assault. Visit the OVC TTAC website or contact them at [email protected] to get started.
Emergency and Transitional Pet Shelter and Housing Assistance Grant Program
OVC made 14 awards in FY 2023 totaling $3.7 million and 12 awards in FY 2022 totaling nearly $2.7 million under this program to support shelter and transitional housing and other assistance to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their companion animals.
Support for Victims in Youth Detention Facilities
Through an FY 2022 cooperative agreement, OVC funded two project sites and one technical assistance provider to support partnerships between juvenile detention centers or jails and community-based victim service providers. The training and technical assistance will focus on PREA standards, trauma and its effect on youth, adolescent development, screening protocols, supervision policies and structures, and more.
National Child Abuse Prevention Month
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time for communities to raise awareness and promote strategies so that every child has the opportunity to grow up free from abuse and neglect. In his March 2024 Presidential Proclamation, President Biden states, “During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we stand together to prevent abuse and neglect, support brave survivors, and build strong communities and families where every child can grow up happy and safe.” View the Child Welfare Information Gateway website for outreach ideas, sample messages, and graphics to help raise awareness about child abuse prevention.
This April, we highlight multiple OVC resources that support service providers’ responses to child abuse.
Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials
Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials are available to help children and youth, ages 2–18, during their involvement with the justice system as a victim or witness to a crime. Materials cover criminal court, child welfare systems, human trafficking, and children and youth from Tribal communities. Some resources are available in multiple languages and audiobooks accompany the materials for young survivors of human trafficking. The booklets feature engaging art and stories to help reach children and youth so they can feel informed, supported, and empowered during their journey.
Apply for funding to print and disseminate copies of the resources in these materials!
To increase access to these materials, the Center for Justice Innovation, Inc., through funding from OVC, is accepting applications from organizations for subgrants up to $10,000 to print and disseminate these materials. Special consideration will be given to those working with rural, Native American, or other underserved communities.
Apply by: Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Child Safety Forward Initiative
Child Safety Forward, a national initiative funded through OVC’s Reducing Child Fatalities and Recurring Child Injuries Caused by Crime Victimization program. This initiative is developing multidisciplinary strategies and public health responses to address fatalities or near-death injuries as a result of child abuse, neglect, or unsafe practices. This initiative was launched in October 2019 to address concerns regarding the number of child deaths due to abuse and neglect. Read the Child Safety Forward final evaluation report of its 3-year demonstration initiative to develop multidisciplinary strategies and responses to reduce fatalities or near-death injuries due to child abuse or neglect.
Communicating Information About Child Abuse
The Building Better Childhoods website provides important guidance on how to talk about child abuse prevention in a way that resonates with a broad range of audiences. The tools can be used when communicating with media, funders, policymakers, and the general public. This initiative is funded in part by OVC and was developed by the FrameWorks Institute in partnership with Prevent Child Abuse America and Social Current.
Reframing Childhood Adversity: Promoting Upstream Approaches, supported with OVC funding, offers communications guidance that takes recent science and current communications contexts into account, speaks to racial and social justice, and aligns with efforts to reimagine child welfare systems into child well-being systems.
From Pain to Parenting, an educational guide from the OVC-funded Child Safety Forward initiative, provides training guidelines and modules for parents on multiple topics related to child well-being. Child Safety Forward was a nationwide 3-year demonstration initiative to develop multidisciplinary strategies and responses to reduce fatalities or near-death injuries due to child abuse or neglect.
Serving Children and Youth Impacted by Substance Use
Substance use in the family or community can lead to compounding harm for children, youth, and families. In FY 2022, OVC awarded funding to JBS International to competitively select and fund subawards to support direct services to children and youth who are crime victims impacted by the Nation’s drug crisis.
In FY 2023, OVC awarded additional funding to JBS International to train family-centered peer recovery coaches to help children and youth overcome adverse childhood experiences and develop protective factors that promote child and family well-being; and to collaborate with parents, families, and communities to address environmental conditions that affect behavioral health.
Additional Information
Discover more publications, resources, and funding opportunities on the OVC website, including links to other federal agencies and national programs that support victims of child abuse, such as:
- Administration for Children and Families
- Child Welfare Information Gateway
- ChildHelp National Child Abuse Hotline
- National Runaway Safeline
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network
- Prevent Child Abuse America
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Project LAUNCH
Visit the OVC Child and Youth Victimization webpage for more resources that can help communities raise awareness and promote strategies that address the risk factors surrounding child abuse.