Experiential Interview
In the capacity of a victim service organization, the organization aims at transforming the lives of individuals affected by the crime of sexual assault. Sexual assault is one of the most prevalent crimes in law as it encompasses the violation of the civil rights belonging to individuals.
Information about the Agency
The name of the agency is Amnesty International. Following the interview of several employees at the foundation, most of their work is primarily voluntary. The organization does not put any condition in place that requires them to reach out to the victims of crime and help them resolve their problems. It entails reaching out to victims who are not willing to make the others aware of their situation. The services center on the victims as the organization seeks to empower them in a manner that will transform the perception of sexual assault in the whole community (Amnesty International USA., 2008, p. 2). After the interview, an analysis indicated that the perception of the victims by the interviewee does not change. In spite of the traumatic experiences that the victim experienced, the interviewee still understands that such criminal experiences are normal because of the high rates of crime in the modern urban societies.
Amnesty International is an international agency focusing on addressing the injustices accruing to people because of the abuse of their human rights. However, it has offices in the United States in New York and Washington. The office in Washington is a national one, focusing on delivering the services of the organization to the people in the Unites States. Individuals can reach the organization at its offices in New York through the email and the phone number (212) 807-8400. The headquarters are in New York in Pen Plaza on the 16th floor. On the other hand, the offices in Washington are reachable through (202) 544-0200 (Amnesty International USA., 2008, p. 3). The offices are located along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE on the fifth floor of the building. They have a regional perceptive and the efforts focus mainly on delivering services within the USA.
Agency Mission/ Goals
The first goal of the organization is to create awareness of the rights belonging to individuals by virtues of the fact that they are human. In most societies, with the USA being no exception, the public often lack knowledge on the legal provisions available to them. People do not know that the law has a remedy for most of the injustices that they undergo in their life. Therefore, one of the core missions of the agency is to create public awareness and enlighten people on the fact that the law can remedy their oppressive treatment. As such, they will know that crimes such as sexual assault are an infringement of one’s fundamental rights and that the law can help by bringing such criminals to a fair trial and possible conviction. Infringement of rights happens in various places starting from home, work, and important societal institutions such as education and hospitals. Consequently, victims of crimes such as sexual assault should be aware of their rights to help address the crime by conviction of the offenders (Del Valle, 2003, p. 3).
Secondly, the organization seeks to advocate human rights for all persons regardless of their social standing in the society. All individuals have a right to humane treatments and any person who infringes the rights and freedoms of another are subject to prosecution by the law. In addition, important institutions such as governments must also approach public matter in a manner that shows respect and concern for the basic rights of individuals. On that note, the agency seeks to help other law enforcers in the implementation and practicality of the bill of rights. Through this constitutional provision, the agency is radical in its approach to any injustices leveled against the public. It also helps address the issue of sexual assault as it emphatically calls for the conviction of such criminals.
Lastly, the agency offers a special service to the people. It seeks to empower by working in conjunction with feminist movements that seek to elevate the status of women in the society. As a norm in other contemporary societies, women in the United States have been victims of prejudice and discrimination based on gender. Therefore, the agency seeks to elevate the social status and bring them on an even competitive ground with the men. Many opportunities bypass the women because of such baseless discrimination (Amnesty International USA., 2008, p. 4). Empowering them will improve the community in the sense that they will also have a chance to utilize opportunities and participate in national matters as the men do. Most importantly, empowering them is also one of the best mechanisms of addressing crimes committed against women such as sexual assault. They are the highest number in this category of victims.
The following were the interviewee from the agency:
- Jean Claude- heads of operations
- Monica Townsend- manager of field operations.
- Billy Twelvetrees- field worker.
The agency is an international organization, which is non-profit in nature. It serves clients who have any legal issues regarding the infringement of their human rights, and the focus is to help them know the appropriate mechanisms of receiving justice. Its office in New York helps the agency to connect with the rest of the world hence it has a universal perspective in terms of the geographical context. On the other hand, the location in Washington helps the agency to localize the operations within the United States on a national perspective hence it reaches out to clients in the whole country. Its general services include advocating human rights for the people in the country and helping them find mechanisms to deal with any infringement of their rights.
The agency faces some challenges in the delivery of its services. First, victims are often unwilling to reveal the injustices that happen to them especially when it comes to sexual assault. It makes it hard to reach out to them and enable them address their problems. Secondly, legal procedures are often prolonged such that it takes long for the ruling to be made, an element that creates despair among the victims (Langwith, 2008, p. 5). Lastly, the US is a big nation, and it may be hard to reach all the victims the organization intends. The representatives of the victims interact with the victim whenever they approach the organization seeking help after an infringement of their human rights. On a normal day, the agency addresses the needs of the victims who approach them with new cases. It also makes a follow up on the progress of the cases filed in the past to evaluate the progress made in terms of the needs of the victims. Occasionally, it may also hold functions to deliberate on human rights and educate people.
References
Amnesty International USA., W. (2008). In Plain Sight A Video Human Rights Education Program. Washington, DC: Amnesty International USA.
Del Valle, S. (2003). Language Rights and the Law in the United States Finding Our Voices. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Langwith, J. (2008). Human Rights. Detroit, Mich: Greenhaven Press.
