RD458 - Domestic and Sexual Violence in Virginia 2008 Annual Report


Executive Summary:
On a daily basis, domestic and sexual violence confront our citizens and our communities. In 2007* alone, 25% of all homicides were related to domestic and intimate partner violence;(*1) 5,009 forcible sex offenses and 22,515 incidents of assault and battery against a family or household member were reported to law enforcement;(*2) 29,934 emergency protective orders for family abuse incidents were issued by magistrates;(*3) and 6,436 men, women, and children stayed in domestic violence shelters.(*4)

In 2008, lawmakers, agencies, and organizations continued their efforts on the state and local level to combat domestic and sexual violence in the Commonwealth.

The Virginia General Assembly enacted important legislation to assist victims of sexual and domestic violence. Among the significant changes to Virginia law were: eliminating the defense of marriage in statutory rape cases, allowing victims of sexual assaults to undergo forensic examinations without requiring their participation in the criminal justice system, preventing polygraph testing of victims as a precondition to investigation or prosecution of sexual assault cases, expediting entry of protective orders into the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN), expanding the pilot Address Confidentiality Program, requiring retention of court records for misdemeanor convictions of assault and battery against a family or household member and violation of a protective order for 20 years, and requiring law enforcement agencies to develop policies and procedures for domestic violence arrests and responding to sexual assault incidents.

Agencies and organizations continued their efforts to provide tools and resources to prosecutors, law enforcement, victim advocates, health care providers, social service providers, and allied professionals. State, local and private partners also continued to promote public awareness and prevention initiatives, as well as support collaborative efforts among agencies and organizations to enhance the overall response to domestic and sexual violence.

State and local agencies and organizations collected data on domestic violence-related fatalities, domestic and sexual abuse, protective orders, and services to victims and children in order to assist in providing a broader picture of these issues that confront our communities. A great deal of the information collected by local and state medical examiners, law enforcement agencies, domestic and sexual violence service providers, and grant programs is included in this year’s Report.

State and local agencies also worked collaboratively on existing as well as new initiatives to improve the response to domestic and sexual violence at all levels. The Governor’s Commission on Sexual Violence brought together legislators and representatives from state agencies, the court system, programs and organizations, and local sexual assault crisis centers to develop and recommend ways to strengthen Virginia law. As a result of the collaborative work and recommendations of the Commission, several important bills which enhance protection for victims of sexual assault were enacted into law during the 2008 Session of the General Assembly.

Additionally, the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders (GEAP), a partnership of five state agencies and one statewide nonprofit organization, continued its efforts to provide intensive training and technical assistance, at the state and local level, to promote practices that enhance victim safety and offender accountability. The GEAP partnership sponsored a number of domestic violence training events for law enforcement, prosecutors, fatality review teams, advocates, and court personnel. The GEAP partnership also worked with community stakeholders in thirteen localities to assess their local responses to domestic violence.

As further example of public-private collaboration, in October 2008, the Attorney General launched “Safe in Our Communities: Community Recognition Program for Promising Practices in Domestic Violence Response.” This Program was developed with input from several state agencies and organizations and is supported by Verizon Wireless. The Program recognizes localities for their innovative and promising practices to combat domestic violence. Selected communities will receive formal recognition from the Attorney General, as well as monetary awards from the Verizon Wireless HopeLine Program.

The Office of Family Violence (OFV) in the Department of Social Services (DSS) coordinates the Domestic Violence Action Team (DVAT), a multidisciplinary team of state and local domestic violence stakeholders. The Team focuses on the statewide response to victims of domestic violence. In 2008, DVAT addressed the need for greater collaboration between local domestic violence programs and local departments of social services, particularly with regard to the issue of elder abuse and the service needs of elderly victims. As a result, a successful training curriculum is being modified to address the specific needs of elderly victims.

Despite continued progress by many agencies and organizations in addressing domestic and sexual violence issues, it is important to note that a number of state and local programs and initiatives have been curtailed in the past year due to continued reduction in federal funding for domestic and sexual violence programs across the country. In 2008, federal funding from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which supports domestic and sexual violence programs as well as victim-witness programs, was reduced drastically by 17%, representing the lowest amount of VOCA funding distributed to Virginia in more than eight years. The amount of federal funds available to all states through the Services*Training*Officers*Prosecutors (STOP) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program (STOP Program) from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) also decreased in FY 2008. Except for a slight increase in STOP Program funding predicted for FY 2009, these funds have decreased steadily since FY 2000. Consequently, the pool of funding available to state and local domestic and sexual violence programs, shelters, victim-witness programs, law enforcement agencies, and Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices has decreased. As a result, there has been a reduction in services to victims and their children. There also has been a reduction in intervention and treatment services for perpetrators, as well as a reduction in training and technical services available to local law enforcement agencies.

In light of the funding challenges faced by all levels of government, we must work together to find innovative ways of addressing the needs of victims, families, and communities touched by domestic and sexual violence. As we enter 2009, we must continue to support the efforts of agencies and programs across the Commonwealth to ensure that the most efficient and effective system is available to combat domestic and sexual violence in our Commonwealth.
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* This Report relies heavily upon statistical and numerical data from 2007 as the most complete data available as of the writing of this Report. Where available, data for 2008 (through November 7, 2008, unless otherwise noted) has been included in this Report. Complete data for the year 2008 will not be available until early 2009.

(*1) Data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Virginia Department of Health. Year-to-date homicide data for 2008 is not available. The percentage of homicides in 2007 related to family and intimate partner homicide reflects any preliminary findings as of October 24, 2008. A number of these homicides still remain under investigation. In addition, “intimate partner” has been defined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as a spouse, former spouse, current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, same sex partner, or dating partner.
(*2) Virginia State Police, Crime in Virginia, 2007 (2008), available at www.vsp.virginia.gov.
(*3) Data from the Office of the Executive Secretary, Supreme Court of Virginia.
(*4) Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, 2007 Domestic Violence Services in Virginia (2008).