Crime Victims' Rights Week

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crime Victims' Rights Week is an annual commemoration in the United States that promotes victims' rights and services. The week is marked by an award ceremony held in Washington, D.C., in which individuals and organizations that demonstrate outstanding service in supporting victims and victim services are recognized. The exact date of the observance varies year to year, but it is always in the month of April.

Established by Ronald Reagan in 1981 as a part of an expanding initiative to provide for victims of crimes (later manifested in Executive Order 12360, signed in 1982, which established the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime), Crime Victims' Rights Week is sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). Several states and localities conduct local events to mark the week, as do private victim rights organizations like the National Organization for Victim Assistance [1].