Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
Status
Accepted
Abstract
This Article describes the Victim-Informed Prosecution Project (VIP), a program that, over its 6-year tenure, aimed to amplify the voice of the victim in the handling of interpersonal violence (IPV) prosecutions in Washington, D.C. The Article discusses the rationale for and design and implementation of VIP and then explores whether it increased the victim’s sense of influence over the justice system response. While some VIP services, including legal advocacy and civil protection order representation, were associated with increased perceived victim voice, the program as a whole reflected more limited levels of perceived victim voice in the area of criminal prosecution. When criminal cases were prosecuted as felonies, only then did victims report a sense of influence over the prosecution. The Article makes specific recommendations for applying the VIP model in other contexts and jurisdictions
GW Paper Series
GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2012-132, GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2012-132
SSRN Link
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2182770
Recommended Citation
Lauren Bennett Cattaneo, Lisa A. Goodman, Deborah Epstein, Laurie S. Kohn & Holly A. Zanville, The Victim-Informed Prosecution Project: A Quasi-Experimental Test of a Collaborative Model for Cases of Intimate Partner Violence, 15 VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 1227 (2009).