The Unseen Struggle of Fighting for Victims’ Rights: An Interview with Melissa Heimerl, Director of Ottawa Victim Services
Rory Sullivan, External Affairs
November 24th, 2019
In the summer of 2018 I had the opportunity to do a short student experience at Ottawa Victim Services (OVS), where I got to learn about how victims of crimes fight for their rights—-- a concept unknown to a majority of people in society. As a part of The Observer’s External Affairsbranch, I interviewed my former supervisor and current Director of OVS, Melissa Heimerl, to dig deeper into the world of victim advocacy.
When we think about crime and those who suffer because of it, we often don’t think about how victims continue to suffer after the crime has occurred, and the resources, or lack thereof, available to them.
OVS is one of many victim resource centres in Canada. All centres, however, are currently struggling with the same problem: a lack of federal funding. The current system that determines funding for each victim service location uses the Ministry of the Attorney General’s formula that is directly tied to how many people are serviced by each location each year. For example, if there was a decrease in how many people sought out services at OVS in 2017, there would be a decrease in their funding for 2018. The root problem with this system is that when a person walks through the door to access services, they do not automatically count as one ‘walk-in’ under the Attorney General’s system. While victims of violent crimes count as one point, those who are deemed to be victims of ‘tragic circumstances’ (including impaired driving and break-and-entering) count as a half point. Additionally, since this system distributes points per person and not per visit, frequent victims of crime are not properly accounted for.
Victims are being reduced to numbers; some to a mere half point. The danger in this system is that numbers do not tell the whole story— it doesn’t describe what victims have been through, how long they need access to resources, or even the types of services they require. Every story is different, and every victim has individual needs.
Adding to the issue with the funding formula, the budget cuts that have been recently introduced by the provincial government have only made accessing and providing victim resources more challenging. The Criminal Injury Compensation Board (CICB), which was previously a financial service for victims of violent crimes, stopped taking applications on October 1stof this year. In its place, the already existing Victim Quick Response Program (VQRP), which provided financial assistance and practical services (such as travel expenses) has been expanded to replace the CICB. As with many budget cuts, the implementation of what is now known as VQRP+ came with issues for those working in offices such as OVS. With the CICB program, victims and their families would have a couple of years to apply for compensation after the violent crime took place, but with VQRP+, victims now only have a time period of six months. Unlike CICB, VQRP+ is designed for short term services— an example being compensation for ten counselling sessions. However, the issue lies in that a small number of sessions, or other examples of temporary services, will not provide any real comfort to those who suffer trauma. As a result, people who have dealt with long-term crimes or who need longer than six months to disclose have already started falling through the cracks.
“So how can this change? How can we as a society become more aware about the behind the scenes of victim resources and advocacy?”
For starters, there needs to be more education and an increase in conversation about the fight for victims’ rights. Those affected by violent and non-violent crimes often don’t know about many of the resources that agencies such as OVS provide, as well as the financial options available to them. As a result, victims too often suffer in silence because they are unaware of the services which exist in the first place. Referrals are the main way most victims find out about places like OVS, but without referrals, the number of walk-ins would decrease exponentially.
Increasing education and resource awareness on university and college campuses is one of the major methods of raising attention to victim services. By educating students about subjects such as disclosure and risks of violence on campus, awareness would spread rapidly. If more students and young people knew about victim service agencies, maybe their volunteer numbers would increase as well. Further, if communities were more aware and active in the fight for victims’ rights, the government and the Ministry of the Attorney General would potentially feel more inclined to increase funding and reinstate programs that not only help victims, but also those who work on behalf of them.
This fight would be for those who are struggling with budget cuts. For those who have to deal with high wait times and limited options. For those who I’ve had the chance to admire during my time at OVS. For those who fight the unseen battle that most of us have never took the time to learn about. It’s about time we open our eyes.
To learn more about volunteering for Victim Services in the Kingston/Frontenac region, please visit: https://victimserviceskingston.ca/volunteer.php