Victim Systems Accountability Project
Tracking gaps. Centering survivor experience. Laying the groundwork for reform.
The Victim Systems Accountability Project is a survivor-informed initiative designed to document and address the breakdowns survivors face when navigating the legal system, child protective services, law enforcement, and other institutional responses to domestic violence.
Launched as part of Phase 1 of Kindling Light’s development, this project lays the critical foundation for our upcoming Domestic Violence Court Pilot by identifying where systems fall short—and where change is most urgently needed.
What We’re Tracking
Examples of tracked experiences include:
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Court dismissals due to survivor absence—even when law enforcement is present
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Protection orders denied despite clear evidence or law enforcement reports
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Cases misfiled or reduced from felony to misdemeanor offenses
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Missed follow-up by CPS or law enforcement
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Abusers manipulating the legal system for custody or control
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Gaps in advocacy, shelter access, or trauma-informed services
All data is collected ethically, securely, and with survivor consent. Findings will be compiled into periodic public reports and used to shape local advocacy and policy.
Get Involved
If you’ve experienced gaps in protection, accountability, or fairness while seeking help for domestic violence, your voice matters.
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💌 Submit your story or experience (anonymously or with your name)
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📣 Join our Survivor Listening Circle (online and in-person opportunities)
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🤝 Collaborate as a professional or advocate to help shape better systems
🔐 Your Story, Your Voice, Your Choice
We honor your privacy, your pace, and your power. All survivor stories and data are handled with care, confidentiality, and trauma-informed practices. You are in control of how much you share, and how it's used.
💡 Want to help fund this work?
Visit our to support VSAP and survivor-led systems reform.
Together, we can light the way to accountability—and change what justice looks like.
Why This Matters?
Survivors in West Virginia face deeply fragmented systems.
Cases are dropped. Protection orders are denied. Offenders are not held accountable. Services are delayed or inaccessible.
Too often, survivors are retraumatized by the very structures that are supposed to help them.
Yet no centralized data currently exists to capture these patterns at the community level.
This project aims to change that.
We are:
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Collecting real-time, anonymized data from survivors about system interactions
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Documenting common failures across courtrooms, agencies, and service providers
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Mapping survivor barriers to safety, justice, and support
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Creating a feedback loop to inform service providers and public officials
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Laying the evidence base for a coordinated DV court model that works