Victims for Justice: “It is imperative that those impacted by crime are cared for”

When a violent crime occurs, it’s often splashed across headlines for a couple days and then disappears, replaced by the latest news. But for the victims, the reality remains and the consequences can linger for years – or decades. 

 Victims for Justice, an Anchorage-based nonprofit, is the only organization in the state that specializes in supporting victims of violent crimes outside of domestic violence and sexual assault, including those affected by assault, arson, robbery, hit-and-runs, homicide and other violent crimes.

 “We are there to provide services from the time the incident occurs throughout the trial and criminal justice process, which can be more than four years down the road,” says Victoria Shanklin, executive director of Victims for Justice. “It is imperative that those impacted by the crime are cared for and know their rights throughout this process.”

 The need for Victims for Justice’s services is clear: Alaska’s violent crime rate of 838 incidents for every 100,000 people makes Alaska the most violent state in the nation. And according to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, 47 percent of homicides and 29 percent of aggravated assaults in 2017 were alcohol related.

Early Intervention and Violence Prevention

 These statistics, and Victims for Justice’s unique focus, led to the organization receiving funding through Anchorage’s new alcohol tax, approved by voters in April 2020 to support programs working to increase community safety; reduce and prevent child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence; and prevent and treat substance misuse, mental health issues, and homelessness.

 “Early intervention is essential when it comes to protecting our people and creating a healthy community,” Shanklin says. “Alcohol tax funding has allowed us to ensure advocates are available in Anchorage. We are also working to embed services within the system so that when an incident occurs, the burden is not on the individual who has been harmed and is dealing with trauma to seek support.”

In addition to increasing the accessibility of advocates, the alcohol tax funding also allowed Victims for Justice to increase communication efforts around violence prevention.

“It is imperative that those impacted by the crime are cared for and know their rights throughout this process.”

Addressing Root Causes

In 2021, the organization produced a film about social media and its negative impacts on youth, particularly its ability to stimulate vandalism, violence and self-harm. The Anchorage community experienced this first-hand earlier this year, when social media-inspired violence spilled over into the halls of many Anchorage schools after viral TikTok “challenges” urged students to vandalize soap dispensers and physically assault teachers. Social media use has also been associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide in adolescents, particularly girls, and with human trafficking. 

“The video we produced, titled ‘A Million Strangers in Their Pocket,’ is targeted at parents and caregivers of pre-teens and teens, and serves as a resource for these adults in learning how to talk to youth about social media and how to ‘get in their business,’” Shanklin says. 

Systems-Based Support

Victims for Justice also serves on several committees to help reduce violence in the community, including work with the Anchorage Alliance on Violence Prevention, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Workgroup, and the Anchorage Police Department Violence Reduction Strategic Planning Workshop.

 Prevention of violent crime is important for both emotional and economic reasons. In the case of homicide, for example, survivor families suffer not only emotional suffering, but financial as well. Each murder results in over $1 million in direct economic losses, including lost earnings, medical care costs and property loss and damage. Indirect costs, including psychological distress, pain and suffering, total nearly $14 million per homicide.

 “People who have faced these traumatic events need emotional, financial and systems-based support,” Shanklin says. “When we offer support early on, we know that it prevents future acts of violence and other types of need later down the line.”

Unlike news headlines, violent crime and the suffering it causes are not going to disappear overnight, which is why consistent, sustainable funding is important for the work of organizations like Victims for Justice.

“We are grateful to receive this funding. We thank all those who advocated on our behalf, including Assembly Member Weddleton,” Shanklin says. “We have some innovative approaches to better serving our community and we hope that we can have the time and opportunity to truly show the impacts this tax can have when it comes to preventing violence and serving those who have been impacted.”