ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the losses suffered by victims and their families and explains the various types of civil litigation that a victim may use. It examines the issues involved with victim compensation statutes and the problems involved with victim impact statements. The growth of victim compensation statutes and restitution of victims in the United States is a relatively recent phenomenon. Victim compensation laws allow those who have suffered economic loss to partially recover funds from a state-supported fund established for that purpose. Victim impact statements may take two distinct forms: victim input at plea agreements and victim impact statements after trial and prior to sentencing. The feminist movement made plain the plethora of discrimination and violence against women. The feminist movement not only attacked society’s perceptions regarding victims of sexual assault but also focused its efforts on educating the public regarding domestic violence.