Advocating for Criminalized Survivors, Part 2: Meeting the Unique Needs of Criminalized Survivors
- OVW Approved?
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Yes
- Description
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When survivors are criminalized, they often want and need advocacy and support. However, sometimes well-intentioned advocacy and interventions can put them at further risk because these strategies were not designed for survivors who face incarceration and other consequences of arrest and conviction. Participants will learn about defense-based advocacy and why a defense perspective is necessary when working with charged and incarcerated victims and survivors at risk of arrest, review unique risks faced by victim defendants and practice defense-based advocacy strategies designed to preserve their legal rights and options.
This three-part series, updated in 2026, is intended for community-based advocates who work with criminalized survivors or who are interested in doing so. Presented by Cindene Pezzell, Director of the National Defense Center for Criminalized Survivors at BWJP, this webinar will equip participants will learn the fundamentals of working with victims who are navigating the criminal legal system as defendants.
Part 2 will cover the fundamentals of “defense-based advocacy,” explore why a defense perspective is necessary when working with charged and incarcerated victims and survivors at risk of arrest, and detail some concrete defense-based advocacy strategies designed to preserve a criminalized survivor’s legal options as well as their safety.