victim blaming
Victims Bill of Rights: An Open Letter from Victims of Crime
On April 3rd 2014 Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced legislation “to give victims of crime a more effective voice in the criminal justice system.”(Public Statement) I first heard of this legislation driving back from a meeting with women who are some of the very victims that Stephen Harper refers to. Listening to CBC Radio I heard lots of discussion about the new legislation but one thing stood out to me, one interviewee raised concerns that if victims have too many rights, they may slow down the justice process. Considering the meeting I just came from I wondered what those women would say about a fear of victims having too many rights! As a person who has been victimized by sexual abuse I would like to write an open letter to policy makers, politicians, lawyers, law enforcement officers around the globe to express what rights for victims of sexual violence would look like. Whatever country you call home, do you know how the legal system treats victims of sexual crimes?
“Dear Policy Makers, Politicians, Lawyers and Law Enforcement Officers, while I appreciate the legislation you have put forward for victims rights in the criminal justice system, I want you to know this doesn’t provide much hope for victims of crime like myself. I write this letter speaking as someone who has been a victim of sexual abuse and has also heard the many stories of others who have experienced similar things. I hope that this letter will be a voice that honors their experiences of the criminal justice system as well as my own. I speak from my own experience and from the direct comments made to me by other survivors.
As victims (and survivors I must add), many of us feel let down by the criminal justice system. It is interesting that it is referred to it as a justice system since very few of us see justice. Instead, we are re-victimized, our character and integrity is put on trail along with our wardrobe and social life. Victim’s young and old are accused of lying, are shamed openly in court, and expected to remember every single detail of our abuse. We live in a beautiful, modern and wealthy country yet when we step into court it seems that all human rights are forgotten and our legal system is thrown into a barbaric society where our attackers are allowed to cross examine us or respectable defense lawyers are allowed to insinuate that “we were asking for it” or “it was consensual”. Yet we are telling you it wasn’t. Talk to our support workers, doctors and counselors they will tell you that we live and breathe the trauma of a very non-consensual “sexual encounter”.
We understand the “burden of proof is on the Crown” But somehow you pass that burden of proof to us, doesn’t the aftermath of our experience, our doctors’ expert opinion, and our testimony count for anything? You see, we carry enough burdens; we don’t want to carry your burden of proof. It is not our job to prove this happened, our pain is proof enough. Our power has already been taken away we don’t need to be raped by the power systems of court.
We are asking that you show us some respect and dignity. Your systems are keeping us victims when we want to become survivors. We ask you to give us some space to heal rather than having to struggle to make ends meet, I know you feel the financial burden of crime, we feel it too: Out of the $99.6 billion a year cost of crime we bear 83% of that burden. We have to make daily choices over buying food or going to a therapy session, I cant tell you the number of times I choose not to eat over therapy. We appreciate the support in place but its not enough. We need a safe and supportive community to heal. If you want these horrific crimes to stop you need to come up with a better “justice system” that gives appropriate rights to both the accused and the so called “accuser”. We are tired of being attacked by defense lawyers, intimated in court by our attackers, interrogated by your police officers and shamed by the public’s ignorance. We are fighting hard to become survivors of the trauma, its time you backed us up by making the justice system truly just then and only then can we celebrate victims rights.
Signed,
One of the 1 in 3 women and girls who have been sexual assaulted
…..and the many more too afraid to tell”
Sources: http://www.joysmith.ca/ , http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2014/04/03/overview-canadian-victims-bill-rights#sthash.1Mv93CXm.dpuf
Picture: http://pm.gc.ca
Hope for Her 