TDCJ News

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week: A Call to Action for Kinship

April 14, 2025

Every April, the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) is held to promote victims’ rights and to honor crime victims and their advocates. The 2025 NCVRW runs from April 6 through 12, with recognition events scheduled across the state.

In 1997, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s mission statement was amended to include the phrase “To assist victims of crime,” and what had been the Victim Services section within the Parole Division was elevated to become the Victim Services Division. Since then, VSD has worked to provide innovative programs and services for crime victims.

The division hosted its annual National Crime Victims' Rights Week Commemorative Ceremony on Thursday, April 10. The ceremony was held outside at the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville, Texas. It featured the region one honor guard, a poem reading, and a lighting of candles to honor those lost to homicide, and victimized by sexual assault, aggravated assault, domestic violence, and other crimes.

VSD Deputy Director Amanda Gage commented on Victims’ Rights Week.

“This event is held in communities across the country to promote victims’ rights, honor crime victims and recognize those who advocate on their behalf,” Gage said.

Alyssa Heatherly, keynote speaker and child advocate, is using her own life experiences to inspire others after putting her offender away for 15 years.

“I didn’t let the bad things that happened to me define how my life would turn out,” Heatherly said. “That is why being this voice and standing here today means so much to me, it allows me to be this woman who can stand up and speak out for the vulnerable victims in our community.”

This year’s theme of Kinship was a call to action to recognize that shared humanity should be at the center of supporting all survivors and victims of crime. Kinship is a state of being with survivors that drives vital connections to services, rights, and healing. Kinship is where victim advocacy begins.

"In Texas, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is more than a moment – it’s a movement,” Sydney Zuiker said. Zuiker is a member of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and chairs the Victim Services Committee. She also is the director of the Safe Community Institute for Crime Stoppers of Houston.

Zuiker closed the ceremony with a call to action.

“This year, I think it's important that we reflect on the powerful word of kinship. For victims of crime, kinship is more than comfort. It's a word that means strength, solidarity, and hope for the future. We know that healing doesn't happen in isolation. It takes family, friends, communities, and systems that care, which all of you are a part of. Today, we are standing together to show that those victims are heard, supported, and certainly never forgotten," Zuiker said.

NCVRW began in 1975 and was made an annual event six years later by President Reagan. Since its inception, organizers and participants have worked to safeguard victims’ rights and provide critical help to rebuild their lives. Today, the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) provides funding for victims’ compensation through criminal fines and penalties, and this support helps many who have experienced the effects of violent crime.

For more information about the 2025 NCVRW, visit the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week website.