It is no secret that some remarkable changes have been accomplished in the recent years in the crime victims’ field in the USA. Some of the victims may be given concessions during the court testimony. They may as well make written submissions at sentencing (Addington, 2008). This paper is therefore primarily devoted to highlight current victim-centered. The issues relate to immigration and aboriginal victims, access to services, intra-familial violence, privacy and sharing of information, and accountability.
Access to services is a pertinent current issue. Victims are not able to access high quality services. This issue is posed by the legal system. This not only puts a burden on victims but is also a clear indication that the government is not sincere in meeting the needs of crime victims. Access is denied through geographical remoteness, financial barriers, intimidation and fear and resource constraints (Addington, 2008).
Intra-familial violence is a current victim issue. It is clear that violent criminal offences are qualitatively dissimilar from other crimes. The prevalence of family violence is high. The use incarceration and prosecution for family has dramatically increased. Sexual offences include child abuse, elder abuse, and sexual assault. All these are mostly intra-familial (Office for Victims of Crime, 2012).
Accountability is yet another issue. It is currently the concern for all groups external to the country’s justice system to identify themselves as the advocates for victims. The public currently is responsible for ensuring that criminal justice decision makers are accountable to for the consequences of any decision they make. Accountability is currently identified with women groups and various groups of private sector groups.
There is higher victimization of immigrants, in particular those perceived to illegal immigrants (Addington, 2008). This is due to the animosity in many communities over immigration policy debates and a belief that those in the USA illegally will not report the victimization to police. Also, Aboriginal inmates are over-represented in prison populations. First national individuals are greatly being victimized due to their proportions in the general population. Access to services is now a more acute issue among the aboriginal population because of geographical remoteness of many communities and language differences. Other current issues are rampant domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, victimization of disabled individuals, and privacy and information sharing (Office for Victims of Crime, 2012).
References
Addington, L. A. (2008).Current Issues in Victimization Research and the NCVS’s Ability to Study Them. Retrieved 13 September, 2012 from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/addington.pdf
Office for Victims of Crime. (2012). The Initiative. Retrieved 13 September, 2012 from http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/vision21/initiative.html
