Fierce Grace Advocacy

A Note on the Training’s Unexpected Pause

Before diving into this week’s content, I need to acknowledge what many of us in the program experienced: the training, which began in September 2025, was placed on an extended hiatus due to the government shutdown. To have been prevented from continuing with this valuable training for over a month was disappointing and disheartening—especially when you’re eager to build momentum in learning about a new field.

However, I’m grateful that the program has resumed and that our fantastic instructors, Marcie Davis and Rebecca Balog, accommodated their schedules to ensure we could proceed with the seminar. Their dedication to seeing us through this training, despite the disruption, speaks volumes about the commitment that exists within the victim services field. It’s a small but meaningful reminder that this work is about perseverance—something I imagine mirrors the resilience required in victim advocacy itself.

Why This Work Matters to Me Personally

Before I delve into what I learned this week, I want to share something personal that drives my commitment to this field.

As I’ve written about before, I was 19 and away from home for the first time for college, I became a victim of intimate partner violence. I didn’t have support back then. In fact, I don’t think I’d even heard of victim advocates until the last five years or so. My college campus certainly didn’t have such resources available—or if they did, they weren’t visible or accessible to someone like me who didn’t know what to look for or how to ask for help.

Now, some 20 years later as a survivor, it is profoundly important to me to show up for other victims and help them through the healing process and the pursuit of justice. My sincere wish is that victim advocacy as a field continues to grow—that there are more advocates, more resources, in more spaces. No one should have to navigate trauma alone the way I did.

Advocacy in the Legal Field: Where I See the Gap

Currently, I work as an attorney in civil litigation, specifically personal injury cases. Some of our clients have suffered tremendous, life-changing physical and psychological injuries from the criminal acts of others. It is good and important work—giving them an opportunity to be heard, bringing those accountable to the table, and securing compensation and financial help for those who need it.

However, through this work I’ve come to recognize something critical: the field of law is one where victim advocacy is especially important, yet often absent.

The process of a lawsuit is traumatic in and of itself. It is long, cold, and intensely invasive. As the natural process unfolds, victims have to deal with retelling and reliving their stories and experiences over and over again—in depositions, in written discovery, in negotiations, and potentially at trial. At times, their sense of agency may seem to fade into the background as attorneys and the court system does what it does. The legal machinery moves forward with its own momentum and timeline, and clients can feel like they’re being swept along rather than empowered.

I think it would be a tremendous help for an advocate to be present throughout this process. In an ideal world, every law firm would have an advocate on staff to help clients through this difficult journey and ensure their voice doesn’t get drowned out by procedure and strategy.

It was actually a certified victim advocate working for a local law firm who first inspired me to look into victim advocacy as a vocation. She came to give a training seminar on trauma-informed law practice, and she was inspiring. Her approach, her understanding of how trauma affects people’s ability to engage with the legal system, and her commitment to centering the client’s humanity in the midst of legal proceedings—it all resonated deeply with me.

I now join her in a desire to see trauma-informed services and victim advocacy become not just normal, but expected in the field of law.

Two Distinct Worlds: Systems-Based vs. Community-Based Advocacy

One of the most important distinctions I learned this week is the difference between systems-based and community-based advocates. Understanding this difference is crucial for anyone considering this field.

Systems-based advocates work within government structures—federal agencies like the Office for Victims of Crime, state attorney general offices, law enforcement agencies, prosecution offices, and even military installations. These advocates primarily focus on helping victims navigate the criminal justice system as witnesses to crimes. They work alongside prosecutors, police, and court personnel to ensure victims understand their rights and the legal process.

Community-based advocates, on the other hand, work in independent nonprofit organizations. Their approach is more holistic—they assist victims with all aspects of recovery from crime, not just the criminal justice piece. This might include housing assistance, mental health referrals, safety planning, and long-term support services.

The key difference that really struck me? Confidentiality. Systems-based advocates cannot offer truly confidential services because of their connection to law enforcement and prosecution. Community-based advocates, however, may be able to provide confidential support on a case-by-case basis. For victims who are hesitant to engage with the justice system or who need a safe space to process their experience, this distinction can be life-changing.

As someone who didn’t report what happened to me in college, I understand viscerally why confidentiality matters and why some victims need support outside of official systems.

What Does a Victim Advocate Actually Do?

Before this training, I had only a vague sense of what advocates do day-to-day. This week provided concrete examples through videos featuring advocates in various settings—from police departments to state attorney’s offices to nonprofit organizations and even the U.S. Navy.

The roles are surprisingly diverse and include:

• Staffing crisis hotlines when victims first reach out for help
• Accompanying victims to medical exams, police interviews, and court proceedings
• Providing supportive counseling to victims and their families
• Coordinating follow-up services and referrals
• Educating the public about victim rights and available resources

What became clear is that advocates wear many hats. They’re supporters, educators, coordinators, and often serve as a bridge between victims and complex systems that can feel overwhelming.

The Six Basic Tenets of Advocacy

The training outlined six fundamental principles that guide all victim advocacy work:

1. Provide victims with information about their options – Empowerment through knowledge
2. Provide trauma-specific services – Understanding how trauma affects victims
3. Develop an action plan – Creating concrete next steps
4. Listen and believe the victim – Validation is powerful
5. Neither investigate nor judge – That’s not the advocate’s role
6. Practice teamwork – Collaboration with other professionals is essential

These tenets resonated deeply with me, particularly the emphasis on listening and believing. When I think back to my own experience, what I needed most was simply to be believed—to have someone validate that what happened to me was real and wrong, without questioning my choices or judging my actions.

The principles emphasize that advocacy is about empowering victims to make their own informed decisions, not making decisions for them or imposing our own judgments about what happened. This is so critical in legal contexts, where victims often feel like decisions are being made about them rather than with them.

Beyond Direct Advocacy: Other Career Paths

What surprised me most this week was learning about the broader career opportunities within victim services beyond direct advocacy work.

Peer support workers bring lived experience to the table, offering unique understanding and connection with victims who are walking a similar path. There’s something powerful about someone who has “been there” offering support. As a survivor myself, this path holds particular appeal—the ability to transform my own painful experience into something meaningful that helps others.

Program administrators run victim services organizations, managing budgets, staff, fundraising, and strategic planning. For those with administrative skills who want to make an impact at a systems level, this path offers the chance to shape how services are delivered to entire communities.

The training even touched on starting your own nonprofit organization—an option that requires understanding finance, administration, and organizational management, but offers the freedom to address gaps in services you’ve identified. Given my vision of bringing victim advocacy into law firms, this possibility intrigues me.

Skills and Education: What Does It Take?

As someone coming from a legal background, I was curious about what skills and education are needed. The list was both reassuring and challenging:

• Advocacy and counseling skills
• Compassion and empathy
• Strong professional boundaries
• Excellent listening and communication abilities
• Problem-solving and team-building capabilities
• Understanding of victimization and trauma
• High emotional intelligence
• Ability to maintain confidentiality

What struck me is that while formal education helps (many advocates have degrees in social work, psychology, criminal justice, or related fields), what matters most is a combination of the right personal qualities, ongoing training, and supervised experience. The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center offers extensive continuing education opportunities, including the Victim Assistance Training Online (VAT Online) and professional development scholarships.

With my legal background, I can see clear connections—understanding court procedures, legal rights, and how to navigate complex systems. My research and writing skills would be valuable. But I also recognize areas where I’ll need to grow, particularly in trauma-informed approaches and maintaining the emotional boundaries necessary for this work when it intersects so closely with my own history.

Real Voices from the Field

Perhaps the most inspiring part of this week’s training was reading testimonials from actual victim advocates:

“I really enjoyed working and advocating for those folks who became a victim or witness of crime… I interacted with all law enforcement agencies, social service agencies, and local mental health agencies, to help the folks receive the necessary services.” – Former Witness Coordinator, Virginia

“The best job I ever had… Multi-tasking daily was often fatiguing, but rewarding as well… Watching someone come out of a traumatic experience with renewed hope and strength was energizing.” – Former Victim Witness Specialist, Colorado

“I learned that it takes time for a victim to even start their healing process. I learned how to be a lot more compassionate.” – Former Sexual Assault Coordinator, Minnesota

These voices capture both the challenges and the profound rewards of this work. It’s demanding, emotionally intense, and requires strong boundaries—but it also offers the chance to witness human resilience and be part of someone’s healing journey.

That last quote particularly resonated with me. Healing does take time—far more time than most people realize. Twenty years later, I’m still on that journey. But that’s also why I feel called to this work: I understand the long arc of recovery, and I want to walk alongside others on that path.

My Reflection

This week’s training challenged me to think seriously about which path within victim advocacy might be the best fit. Do I see myself working within the criminal justice system, or would I thrive better in a community-based setting where I could take a more holistic approach? Do I want to work directly with victims, or would I find more fulfillment in program administration, shaping services at a higher level?

The discussion prompt asked us to consider how our current professional experience might translate to victim advocacy. As I mentioned, my legal experience provides clear advantages—knowledge of court procedures, understanding of legal rights, and experience navigating complex systems. But more than that, my work with personal injury clients has shown me exactly where the gap exists. I see firsthand how the legal process can retraumatize victims, and I’ve witnessed how much they need support that goes beyond legal representation.

My vision is becoming clearer: I want to bridge the gap between law and victim services. Whether that means working as an advocate within a law firm, consulting with firms on trauma-informed practices, or eventually creating my own model for integrating advocacy into legal representation, I see tremendous potential for impact.

What I’m learning is that victim advocacy requires both head and heart—analytical skills to navigate systems and solve problems, combined with deep empathy and the emotional resilience to bear witness to others’ pain without becoming overwhelmed by it. My legal training provides the head; my lived experience as a survivor provides the heart.

Looking Ahead

As I move into Week 3 of the training, I’m carrying with me a much clearer picture of what victim advocacy actually looks like in practice. The field is more diverse and nuanced than I initially understood, with room for different strengths, backgrounds, and approaches.

More importantly, I’m becoming more confident that there’s a place for the vision I hold: making victim advocacy an integral, expected part of legal practice. If one advocate at a local law firm could inspire me with a single training seminar, imagine what could happen if every firm had advocates on staff, if trauma-informed practice became the standard rather than the exception.

If you’re considering a similar path, I’d encourage you to explore both systems-based and community-based opportunities. Shadow advocates if possible, volunteer with local organizations, and be honest with yourself about which setting aligns with your values and working style. There’s no single “right” path—just the path that’s right for you.

And if you’re a survivor considering this work, know that your experience—painful as it was—can become a powerful tool for helping others. Not everyone is ready or called to do this work, and that’s absolutely okay. But if you feel that pull, trust it. The field needs people who understand trauma not just intellectually, but in their bones.

Take the Next Step

Interested in victim advocacy training? The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) offers free training programs for those exploring careers in victim services, including the Pathways in the Victim Services Field series I’m currently completing. Whether you’re a survivor looking to transform your experience into meaningful work, a legal professional seeking to provide more trauma-informed services, or someone simply drawn to this field, these trainings provide an accessible entry point. Visit the OVC TTAC website to learn more about upcoming courses and professional development opportunities.

For attorneys and legal professionals interested in trauma-informed practice, I encourage you to seek out training opportunities in your area. The impact on your clients—and on your own practice—can be transformative.

Stay tuned for my Week 3 reflection as I continue this journey toward becoming a certified victim advocate.

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Have you worked in victim services or considered this career path? For fellow survivors: have you thought about how your experience might inform work in this field? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.