PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Survivors of violent crime are urging Pennsylvania lawmakers to enact greater safety reforms and expand protections for those whose lives have been upended by crime.
A group of survivors met in West Philadelphia early Tuesday morning to board charter buses en route to Harrisburg. Yolanda Jennings, Philadelphia chapter coordinator of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, lost her sister and cousin to domestic violence.
“Oftentimes when people are victimized, they have issues, they might want to change their lives, they might need to relocate. Victims shouldn’t have to be penalized because they were victimized by having to pay fees to move or by having to pay to have their locks changed,” she said.
In addition to housing protections for victims, they want to see more employment protections.
“We want people to not have to worry about losing their jobs,” Jennings said, “if they have to go to bury their loved ones, or if they need to have therapy to deal with the trauma that they’ve been through.”
They are also calling for programs to decrease recidivism and tools to promote financially stable families and communities.
As a homicide survivor, Rikeyah Lindsay is concerned for her 9-year-old son’s well-being.
“I lost my cousin in 2020 I lost my nephew also in 2020 to gun violence. I live in a neighborhood that is heavily impacted by crime,” she said.
Lindsay works with the group Straight Ahead, an organization that supports true rehabilitation for people in the criminal justice system.
“We understand that most people who go to prison will come home one day, right? And so we want to make sure that these people are coming home to society, and they are skilled.”
Survivors and advocates from Philly will gather at the state Capitol on Tuesday, joining hundreds of others rallying for victim support.
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