The Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates is hosting a competition for the creation of a 30-second television commercial that will highlight the impact of crime on victims, introduce communities to the rights afforded victims of crime, or increase awareness about the programs and assistance available to crime victims in Washington.
According to Joye Frost, Acting Director of the federal Office for Victims of Crime, the Community Awareness Projects such as this project help generate widespread public awareness of crime victims’ rights and needs, and the importance of engaging all Americans in victim assistance efforts.
“Recent studies show that too many crime victims and survivors do not avail themselves of the many services in our communities that can help them through very devastating experiences. National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is our opportunity to support public awareness of crime victims’ rights and the critical, often life-saving, services provided by thousands of programs across our Nation to help crime victims,” Frost said.
Karla Salp, Executive Director of the Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates, says the commercial competition is a way for victims and the community to become involved in increasing awareness about victim rights and services statewide. “Anyone from a professional advertising agency to a high school student has the technology and ability to create a video to share a powerful story today. The competition provides an exciting opportunity to the community and victims in our state to increase awareness of the impact of crime on victims and how vital meaningful rights are,” Salp said.
The winning commercial entry will be aired throughout Washington State during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which is April 22 – 28, 2012.
Guidelines and additional information about the competition can be found on the Washington Coalition of Crime Victim Advocates’ website at http://www.wccva.org/commercialcompetition.htm or by calling 360-456-3858. Entries are due March 30, 2012.
For additional information about 2012 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week activities or about victims’ rights and services in Washington State, please contact Karla Salp at 360-456-3858 or visit www.wccva.org. For information about national efforts to promote 2012 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, please visit the Office for Victims of Crime Web site at http://www.ovc.gov.
The project is funded through a grant from the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators. The National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators is a non-profit organization that represents the 56 state agencies that distribute funds from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) to more than 4,000 direct victim assistance service providers. All of the funds for VOCA programs come from criminal fines and other penalties paid by federal criminal offenders and not from taxpayer dollars.
