What We Do > Survivor Services > Legal Advocacy
Navigating the system can be overwhelming.
We will walk the path with you.
WHW plays a crucial role in complex systems by empowering survivors. Every day, WHW is present in 16 courts across the region—both criminal and civil—offering advocacy and support to survivors of gender-based violence. WHW helps survivors with the paperwork needed to obtain protection orders and stands by them during court proceedings, providing essential support throughout the process.
Advocates also work directly with Police Departments, the local Prosecutor’s Office and the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati to provide support, crisis intervention and advocacy to survivors during various process phases in these systems.
Facts & Statistics
2 out of 3 children are exposed to trauma.
33% of adolescents in America are victim to sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional dating abuse.
(The NO MORE Project. “Dating Abuse Statistics.” www.loveisrespect.org. Accessed April 22, 2014.)
1 in 3 women have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
1 in 4 men have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
Crime Victim Rights
The Crime Victim’s Compensation unit administers awards of compensation in accordance with Ohio’s Crime Victims Compensation Law, which provides payments to eligible survivors of violent crime for their unreimbursed economic losses.
WHW’s advocates are trained by the Attorney General’s Office to assist survivors in filing compensation claims. Please call our hotline to schedule an appointment to begin the filing process.
Crime Victims Compensation Unit
Call 1-800-582-2877, or visit
ohioattorneygeneral.gov/victim
for additional information.
Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE)
Status change notification system
VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) is available to anyone, including survivors, advocates, law enforcement, judges and the public. It provides free, anonymous, 24-hour access, over the phone or through the Internet, to the custody status of offenders in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, county jails, and juvenile inmates in the Department of Youth Services.
VINE also provides automated telephone or email notification when the offender’s custody changes, including release, transfer, escape, re-arrest (return from escape) or death.
For more information, please call our hotline or go to www.VINELink.com. An advocate with WHW can help you register VINE in person or over the phone.
