When Victims of Battering are Charged with Crimes: Webinar Series
July 2018
National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women
Part 1: Background and Overview
“When victims of battering get arrested and face criminal charges, the criminal legal system labels them as “perpetrators” or “offenders.” They are often no longer seen as victims by people in the system, and even by some service providers. This webinar explores many of the common reasons that victims of battering get arrested, the unique challenges they face in the criminal legal system, difficulties they face trying to get assistance and services from victim service organizations, and safety risks they face as a result of being charged.”
Part 2: Effective Advocacy Strategies
“What does a community need to do in order to enhance the responses to those victims who end up in the system as defendants? Building on Part 1 of this series, this webinar explores advocacy strategies from a “defense-based” perspective, including systems’ advocacy and concrete ideas of ways to work with individual victim defendants.”
Part 3: Helping Victim Defendants Navigate Concurrent Protection Order Proceedings
“This webinar is presented in conjunction with the National Center on Protection Orders and Full Faith & Credit. Victims of battering are often involved in multiple court interventions simultaneously. Concurrent legal proceedings can impact one another, often to the detriment of the victims. For example, victim defendants who testify in protection order proceedings risk having their testimony used against them in criminal court. This webinar explores ways advocates and attorneys can help to minimize the potential risks faced by victim defendants who also have open protection order proceedings.”