Week 2: Role of a Victim’s Advocate

During the first week at my internship, I learned more about the nature of the job and my responsibilities. I am interning under three victim’s advocates. The role of a victim’s advocate is to: provide accurate information about the court system to clients, provide knowledge to victims to ensure they are able to make informed decisions, to support the victim, to connect the victim/client to resources, to give referrals, to maintain confidentiality and the victim’s safety, and to assist the victim in filing a Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO). A victim’s advocate however, is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice. By the end of the summer, it is expected that I will be able to have my own clients and walk them through the intake and DVPO filing process on my own. Throughout the internship I will be in court quite often. As of now it is important that I learn the proper steps to help a client file a DVPO. In the coming week, I might be able to witness the complete process, should a victim come to the Center for Family Violence Prevention (C4FVP).
This past week I had many great experiences. On Monday, I had training where I learned more about domestic violence as well as the many operations of the C4FVP. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I attended a superior court trial involving a statutory rape case. I really enjoyed this as I got to witness for the first time, how our court system actually works. This experience complimented everything I have learned in my classes. In addition, I got to meet detectives, bailiffs, district attorneys, the judge, the clerk, and watched jury selection. On Thursday, I was in the office learning more about the DVPO filing process, client outreach and support, as well as general office procedures. Finally, on Friday, I went to civil court where I watched hearings on DVPOs. So far, I have loved everything about my internship. I am learning a lot about the criminal justice system as well as serving members in the Pitt county community. By the end of the summer, I hope be in a position where I can assist victims throughout all of the above experiences rather than just observe.