Virginia

State Overview

State Summary

The state does not have a statute defining domestic violence but instead defines family abuse, which includes spouses and ex-spouses, couples who live or have lived together in the last 12 months, and couples with a common child. The statute does not limit family abuse offenses to heterosexual couples; this determination is up to the discretion of judges. The state is NIBRS certified, but no additional data elements are collected. All local law enforcement agencies report crime data to the Virginia State Police; the data are published in the incident-based annual crime report. The State Police also maintains the state records of protection orders, which are available to criminal justice agencies through the Virginia Criminal Information Network.

Virginians Against Domestic Violence and Virginians Aligned Against Sexual Assault merged to form the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. The Alliance collects domestic and sexual violence and stalking data from all grant-funded domestic violence programs and a fluctuating number of rape crisis centers through the VAdata System. The information collected is collected at the person-level but does not include personal identifiers. Data are used in annual reports and aggregate data are available upon request. The Department of Criminal Justice Services' Criminal Justice Research Center also collects summary information from sexual assault service provider grantees.

The Virginia Department of Health's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner collects information on family and intimate partner homicides. Staff review death certificates, police reports, and autopsy reports to identify family and intimate partner homicides. A standard coding form is then used to collect the information for entry into the Family or Intimate Partner Violence Fatality Surveillance database. Annual reports are available from the Office's Web site and data can be requested.

State Projects

Available Reports

General Crime

• Uniform Crime Reporting Section. (Annual). Crime in Virginia. Virginia State Police.
• Criminal Justice Research Center. (2005). Virginia crime trends 1995 - 2004. Department of Social Services.
• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. (2005). Violent death in Virginia: 2003. Virginia Department of Health.
• Criminal Justice Research Center. (1999). Crime in the Commonwealth 1988 - 1998. Department of Social Services.

Domestic Violence

• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. (Annual). Family and intimate partner violence homicide report. Virginia Department of Health.
• Division of Injury and Violence Prevention. (2006).  Intimate partner violence health care provider survey. Virginia Department of Health.
• Theis, M., Areson, T., and Sheahan, M. (2006).  Annual statistical report. Department of Social Services Office of Research.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2006).  2005 domestic violence services in Virginia.
• Department of Social Services. (2005).  Biannual report 2002 - 2004.
• The Police Foundation. (2005).  Richmond’s second responders: Partnering with police against domestic violence.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  2000 - 2004 VAdata report: Domestic violence service providers in Virginia.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  2004 domestic violence services in Virginia.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  5 years of domestic violence services to Virginia adults (2000 - 2004).
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  Annual report.
• Victim Services Section. (2004).  An informational guide for domestic violence victims in Virginia: Understanding the legal process. Department of Criminal Justice Services.
• Victim Services Section. (2004).  A study of domestic violence policies in Virginia's law enforcement agencies. Department of Criminal Justice Services.
• Virginians Against Domestic Violence. (2004).  2003 annual report.
• Hale, M. M. (2003).  Lynchburg, Virginia, arrest policies project: A process evaluation. NCJ 201876. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
• Virginians Against Domestic Violence. (2003).  Annual report.

Sexual Assault

• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2006).  2005 sexual violence services in Virginia.
• Center for Injury and Violence Prevention. (2005).  Sexual Violence State Plan Advisory Board 2004 report: A report on the progress of the implementation of the Virginia Sexual Violence State Plan. Virginia Department of Health.
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• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  2000 - 2004 VAdata report: sexual violence service providers in Virginia.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  2004 sexual violence services in Virginia.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  5 years of sexual violence services to Virginia adults (2000 - 2004).
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  Sexual violence in Virginia 2004.
• Virginia Sexual Violence State Plan Advisory Board. (2005). Sexual violence: 2004 Report Virginia. Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.
• Simpson, C. Odor, R. K., and Masho, S. (2004).  Childhood sexual assault victimization in Virginia. Center for Injury and Violence Prevention, Virginia Department of Health.
• Victim Services Section. (2004).  An informational guide for sexual assault victims in Virginia. Department of Criminal Justice Services.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2004).  Sexual violence in Virginia 2003.
• Virginia Sexual Violence State Plan Advisory Board. (2004). Sexual violence: 2003 Report Virginia. Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance.
• Masho, S. and Odor, R. K. (2003).  Prevalence of sexual assault in Virginia. Center for Injury and Violence Prevention, Virginia Department of Health.

Violence Against Women

• VAdata Advisory Committee. (Annual). VAdata annual report: A report from Virginia's domestic violence programs and sexual assault crisis centers.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2006).  2005 annual report: Joining forces: Together we are stronger.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005).  5 years of data (2000 - 2004): Lessons learned.
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2004). Violence against women with disabilities: A study of sexual assault and domestic violence among women in Virginia who have mental health and/or cognitive disabilities.

Sample Data Collection Forms

The Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance collects information for its data collection system using these incident-based online forms:

• VAdata Hotline Form
• VAdata Legal Advocacy Form
• VAdata Advocacy Form
• VAdata Shelter Form
• VAdata Child Advocacy Form
• VAdata Brief Contact Form

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services collects quarterly summary reports from grantees using this form, with instructions:

•  Sexual Assault Grant Program Project Progress Report
•  Sexual Assault Grant Program Codebook

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner collects data for its database using this incident-based form:

•  Family or Intimate Partner Violence Fatality Surveillance

Available Data

No data are available at this time.

Links to State Agencies and Resources

• Department of Criminal Justice Services' Criminal Justice Research Center
• Virginia State Police
• Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance
• Virginia Commission on Family Violence Prevention
• Family Violence Review
• Virginia Department of Social Services Domestic Violence Prevention
• Virginia Department of Health Chief Medical Examiner
• Virginia Department of Health Division of Injury and Violence Prevention
• Men Ending Violence