What Criminal Justice Practitioners Can Do To Make a Difference

• Require ongoing training for all sworn and civilian criminal justice personnel on issues related to sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking.
• Adopt comprehensive protocols for law enforcement response to violence against women.
• Coordinate the efforts of the justice system to prevent or intervene in violent crime.
• Require the prompt completion of detailed incident reports and ensure their availability to victim advocacy agencies and victims as appropriate.
• Educate members of the bench and bar about the struggles faced by victims deciding whether to participate in prosecution.
• Encourage prosecutors to build a case based on evidence in all cases even when the victim is unable or unwilling to testify.
• Invest in victim/witness programs and the expansion of community-based advocacy.
• Provide women victims of violence facing criminal charges or in prison access to quality legal representation.
• Evaluate arrest policies to determine whether victims of violence are being inappropriately arrested.
• Support intervention efforts for batterers and sex offenders

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