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Crime
Has Physical, Economical and Psychological Impact
Defiance Crescent News
Sunday, April 18, 2004
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was shared with LACP by one of our
readers, and first appeared in a small local paper in Defiance,
Ohio.
Crime
Has Physical, Economical and Psychological Impact
Crime is certainly a societal problem, but it doesn’t affect
me personally. That seems to be the prevalent attitude of many
Americans, even in this post Sept. 11, 2001 era.
The reality is that most people in the United States will be
a victim of or a witness to a crime sometime during their lifetime.
April 18 through April 24 marks the 24th commemoration of the
National Crime Victim’s week. Across the nation, victim service
providers, justice professionals and others will seek to promote
greater public awareness about a serious problem that affects
our nation and its people.
The economic impact of crime is devastating itself, resulting
in significant damage to victims’ abilities to focus, function
and work. The psychological impact may be more difficult to
measure, but is no less devastating.
Many victims never report crime because of trauma and fear.
For those who do report crimes, there is much work to do to
validate the harm they endured, their voices and concerns, and
their statutory rights as victims.
The physical impact of crime results in lives that are changed
forever---the robbery victim left a paraplegic, the family whose
breadwinner is murdered, the battered woman who hides her bruises
in hopes of hiding her chronic suffering, and child abuse victims
who listen closely to the threats of their abusers and never
disclose their victimization.
Victims and survivors of crime have simple, basic needs. They
need to feel safe in reporting crimes committed against them.
They need consistent implementation of their core rights of
information, notification, protection, participation and restitution.
More than anything, they need to be assured they are not responsible
in any way for what happened and that the persons responsible
will be held accountable and brought to justice. |
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