September 2010 Volume 17, Issue 9

Welcome to the September issue of the National Justice SNAPSHOTS Network e-Update, a publication of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime. PLEASE SHARE UPCOMING EVENTS: THIS FREE NEWSLETTER WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES OR HAVE THEM SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT DIRECTLY ONLY A FEW DAYS REMAINING AT: http://crcvc.ca/en/newsletter/. To get the early bird registration rate for the 2-day training session THANK YOU to Amanda Bloom and Natasha Richards hosted by the CRCVC: for their assistance in composing this e-newsletter. Witnessing Victims' Resistance to Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime Violence and Oppression Visit: http://www.crcvc.ca With Allan Wade, Ph.D.

Email: [email protected] October 25 & 26, 2010 Phone: 1.877.232.2610 In Ottawa, Ontario.

Online registration. Visit http://crcvc.ca/en/2010-training/ to view the event poster and to The National Justice Network e-Update would not be register. possible without funding received from the Department of Justice Canada - Victims Fund. INVISIBLE CHAINS BOOK TOUR

Invisible Chains: Canada’s LINKS OF INTEREST: Underground World of Human Policy Centre for Victim Issues Trafficking by is a

shocking exposé and impassioned Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime call to action to end human

trafficking in Canada. The book is National Office for Victims launching a ‘National Public

Awareness Campaign to End Victim Services, Correctional Service Canada Modern-Day ’

and it will be running from October Information for Victims, National Parole Board 13-31, 2010. The book will be ______released October 5 in bookstores.

CANADA’S LONG-GUN REGISTRY SAVED IN CLOSE VOTE To RSVP and attend an Event in On September 22nd, federal MPs voted 153 - 151 in your area you can find a complete favour of saving the federal firearms registry and Bill C- list of dates and locations here. 391 died. The CRCVC is pleased by the result which means that Canada will continue to regulate the FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ownership of rifles and shotguns in Canada. The costs of HOST EVENTS DURING keeping the gun registration of rifles and shotguns are NATIONAL VICTIMS OF CRIME modest - $4 million a year - while the costs of gun AWARENESS WEEK violence is immense. The Government of Canada On September 15, a group of people gathered at Toronto provides funding for organizations Police headquarters with pleas to save the long-gun to host events during National registry. They brought with them an important message; Victims of Crime Awareness Week

let us not forget the victims. (NVCAW). This year, NVCAW is taking place from April 10 - 16, Many of these individuals were united by their tragic 2011. The theme that has been circumstances associated with guns. Bob Pajkowski and chosen for NVCAW 2011 is: Many his wife, Dianne, lost their 21 year old daughter Melissa Voices, Many Paths. due to a gun. Mr. Pajkowski said, “It is very difficult for us to be here today, but we feel it critically important to do so There will be limited financial because we know what it is like to have a beloved family assistance of up to $10,000, which member killed by a gun.” will be available for projects that support the goals of NVCAW. The For Priscilla de Villiers, it was a .22-calibre rifle that deadline to submit the funding ended the life of her daughter, Nina, who was abducted application is November 1, 2010. from a Burlington tennis court in 1991. “I think the Applications will only be accepted message is quite simple: All guns are potentially lethal, up to this date. Only applications regardless of the size, length of the barrel, how they were that have been completed in full acquired, who owns them,” de Villiers said. “We need to will be eligible for funding. do whatever we can to ensure that they’re not falling into the hands of dangerous people.” For more information, send an e- mail to the committee or find Sadly, in the discussions surrounding the termination of application forms and information the long-gun registry the words; victim, tragedy, terrible on the application process at: hurt, intimidation and threat, were rarely used. The www.victimsweek.gc.ca reality of the victimization that people experience as a result of guns was not at the forefront of discussions UNDERSTANDING AND surrounding this Private Member’s Bill. RESPONDING TO MALE SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION The President of the Coalition for Gun Control, Wendy Cukier, when speaking following the vote said, “We can The Ontario Provincial Crime debate statistics all you want but at the end of the day we Prevention Section in partnership know for sure, the firearms registry never killed anyone. with the Canadian Centre for While getting rid of it might.” Abuse Awareness is offering a one day conference. The Rural B.C. psychiatrist, Dr. Barbara Kane, in regards to conference includes speakers who Bill C-391 stated, “in my professional practice, I have will address topics such as; personally seen many cases where the registry has been “Acting out to cope”, “Underlying used to remove guns from individuals who might present issues of addiction and male a risk to themselves or others. The registry makes childhood abuse”; “Residential people accountable for their guns and helps people like School Experience”, “Police vs. me and the police prevent gun death.” System” and more. Conferences will be run in Timmins on The CRCVC believes the regulation of rifles and November 4th, Kingston in shotguns is necessary for public safety reasons. After all, February 2011 and Toronto March we do require citizens in this country to register their cars, 2011. marriages and dogs, among other things. Why not potentially deadly weapons then? Registration can be done online at ------www.abusehurts.com

ENDMODERNSLAVERY.CA

Recently launched, endmoderndayslavery.ca, offers information on; human trafficking

in Canada, the latest stories in Canada involving human trafficking, details on the launch of 9/11 COMMEMORATION CEREMONY Invisible Chains: Canada’s Underground World of Human Trafficking, and information on how you can take action to help combat human trafficking. The website is an excellent tool that is full of resources and facts that can help fight this form of modern-day slavery.

THE ONTARIO VICTIM SERVICES SECRETARIAT

As the Ontario Victim Services Secretariat (OVSS) continues to search for better ways to provide information to victims of crime and Photograph by: Richard Lawrence to support agencies they have recently redesigned their website Family members of Canadian 9/11 victims, in an effort to as of August 31st, 2010 to make it pay tribute to their lost loved ones and to honour all easier to find information. Users Canadian soldiers for their sacrifices in the fight against can access their pages at terrorism, gathered at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa www.ontario.ca/victimservices, th on September 11 , 2010 to remember and reflect upon where drop down menus allow for the lives of the twenty-four Canadians who perished in faster access to information on the attacks. Minister of National Defence Peter Mackay, programs, services and more. Senator Pamela Wallin, soloist Robert Pilon, Emcee Suhanna Meharchand, and United States Ambassador to VICTIM SERVICES DIRECTORY Canada David Jacobson are pictured above with 9/11 monument . The Department of Justice Victims Fund In 2009, the Policy Centre for graciously provided funding for this remembrance Victim Issues (PCVI) created the ceremony. online Victim Services Directory. ------This Directory was created with BC TEEN’S VICTIMIZATION DISPLAYED ON the intention to help victims, their FACEBOOK families and service providers find th On September 10 in Pitt Meadows, a small town east of local resources more quickly. Vancouver, a horrific sexual assault was committed Currently, the directory lists more against a teenage girl at a party. The victim was brutally than 500 organizations from all attacked and raped by multiple male attendees at a party. across the country that provide Sadly, to add to the harm suffered by this victims, services to victims. It is pictures and videos taken by an observer on the internet searchable by postal code, type of via Facebook. Local police were struggling to control the victimization and type of services distribution of these photos. Even though they have needed. taken some measures, such as having Facebook remove photos or entire accounts, it is impossible to trace all The Directory is available on the uploads. This girl's horrendous nightmare will not easily Department of Justice website at: be forgotten, as people will always be able to possess http://victimservices.justice.gc.ca photographs of her being assaulted by numerous offenders. FEEDBACK ON THE NJN E-

Police believe that 5 to 7 males sexually assaulted the NEWSLETTER female victim. They have made two arrests in connection with the attack, but have yet to arrest the rest of the male The Canadian Resource Center perpetrators. A 16-year-old was arrested on charges of for Victims of Crime is looking for distributing child pornography and for photographing and your feedback to see if there are distributing the images, and an 18-year-old, was arrested any further ways we can improve and will likely be charged with at least one count of our newsletter and determine sexual assault. whether we are providing you with what you need. Police continue to struggle with gathering enough evidence to make more arrests, and evidence has led Please go to: them to believe that there were up to 12 bystanders who http://crcvc.ca/njn/evaluation/ watched and did not try and stop the horrific actions of the males victimizing this girl.

To add to the harms suffered by this victim, there have been several instances where supporters of the accused have attempted to blame the victim, and claim that she was a willing participant in the attack. There is no truth to these claims.

This sentiment did not sit well with Kristen Gilbert, a regional education consultant and certified sexual health teacher at Options for Sexual Health. Gilbert said, “When I talk in classrooms, young people are shocked, 100 per cent of the time, when I tell them that, by law, people can’t consent to sex when they’re under the influence of drugs and alcohol.” Gilbert suggested that the topic of consent must be incorporated into classroom sexual education curriculum and the CRCVC agrees. The lack of education and understanding of what sexual assault is and what constitutes non-consensual sex, could lead to other young females being victimized as the perpetrators may believe that what they are doing is ‘okay’ and that the female is ‘consenting’, when in fact she is not.

While social media tools like Facebook remain a very popular way for Canadians to communicate and stay in touch, this case also shows the potential life-long harm that can occur.

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN TO COMBAT HUMAN TRAFFICKING A National Action to Combat Human Trafficking was released by , Member of Parliament for Kildonan – St. Paul. The proposal outlines what we have done as a nation so far as suppressing this crime and gives a clear rationale to curb the rapid growth of this crime. It contains numerous recommendations and action points aimed at providing a concrete federal response to areas of prosecution, protection, prevention and partnerships.

Ms. Smith feels that a National Action Plan is essential to address the challenges raised by human trafficking she says, “We need a federal plan that focuses on prevention initiatives, increased prosecution, greater protection and rehabilitation for the victims, and partnerships with frontline organizations.” Without a plan this crime will continue to grow and people will continue to be exploited.

The annual U.S. trafficking in Persons Report has also revealed Canada to be a source and destination country for many types of human trafficking. Human traffickers have prospered for too long in Canada due to lack of response.

The recommendations made in the proposal include the creation of a national report on human trafficking, increasing funding for victim aid organizations, the adoption of the Swedish model towards prostitution, a national awareness campaign and a tailored strategy to address human trafficking in First Nations communities. One of the most important parts of the National Action Plan is education and awareness.

Joy Smith most recently saw her private member’s bill amending Canada’s Criminal Code to include an offence of trafficking minors adopted into law. Bill C-268 provides a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for anyone convicted of trafficking a minor in Canada and a minimum of six years imprisonment for cases where there are aggravating factors.

To view the full proposal, download it from: www.joysmith.ca.

“ANDY MOFFITT TRAIL” In 2002, Ottawa City Council created the Commemorative Naming Program as a way to formally recognize individuals who demonstrate excellence, courage or exceptional service. This program provides the opportunity for the contributions of these individuals to be honoured through the naming of municipal streets, parks and facilities. The City is proposing to rename Edgeware Park, commonly referred to as Berrigan Woods located at 70 Berrigan Drive in Barrhaven, as “Andy Moffitt Trail”. A ceremony will be held on October 27th.

Andy Moffitt was a resident of Barrhaven and was very active in the community. He was a student at the University of Ottawa and expected to graduate with a degree in Computer Engineering. In 1998 he demonstrated extreme courage when he sacrificed his life to protect his friend from an aggressor. For his heroic efforts, the Governor General presented his family with a Medal of Bravery. With his life insurance money Andy’s family created the “Andrew Moffitt Memorial Scholarship Fund” at the University of Ottawa to help engineering students reach their potential. With the support of the community Andy’s Memorial Scholarship Fund was able to reach $158,000.00.

B.C. INVESTING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS AS A METHOD OF CRIME PREVENTION Vancouver Board of Trade and the Justice Institute of B.C., released a joint report in early September. This report said that investing in early childhood development, particularly before age five, will help to save governments and society millions of dollars in the long run. “Kids’N’Crime: Economic Aspects of Development and Prevention of Criminality among Children and Youth”, has found that early childhood intervention leads to enhanced productivity, GDP growth, reduced crime and a reduced financial burden on health, justice and social programs needed throughout adult life.

The report states, “A dollar invested in early childhood yields three times as much for school-aged children, and eight times as much for adult education.” The report also says that the first five years are critical in determining whether a child will lead a positive life or become involved in crime.

In agreement with this report is Vancouver’s deputy Police Chief, Warren Lemcke, who said when discussing older criminals that, “if we got to them when they were five, six or seven, they wouldn’t have got to where they are today.” Also supporting the findings of the Kids’N’Crime report is the Vancouver’s Board of Trade new chairman, Jason McLean, who stated, “the report makes clear the business case for directing more resources to children under five.”

Early childhood preventions programs could help prevent a child from turning to criminal activities in youth and adulthood, as well as helping to avoid the victimization of an innocent.

5TH ANNUAL AARON SHOULDERS WALK FOR JUSTICE FOR MURDER VICTIMS INTERNATIONAL

The 5th annual Aaron Shoulders walk for justice for murder victims international was held on September 11, 2010 in Calgary. The mother of Aaron Shoulders founded the Walk for Justice for Murder Victims in 2006 after her son had been swarmed by 12 gang members, brutally attacked, beaten and fatally stabbed in front of a nightclub. There were close to 200 onlookers watching, and many witnessed this crime. Aaron’s murder case is now 7 years unsolved and his killers still at large.

There were about 12 families and friends of murder victims who participated. The walk was started to create awareness of murdered loved ones. It is an outcry against lenient sentencing, a protest against the escalating violence, and a platform to give a voice to families of murder victims.

The reasons for this walk are that Calgary murder rate has more than tripled since 2003, Calgary’s unsolved murder cases are increasing yearly, gang violence is on the rise, violent criminals have no deterrence and lastly the goal is to create change. For more information visit: www.aaronshoulders.ca.

FEMALE SEXUAL OFFENDERS: UNDERCOGNISED AND UNDERREPORTED A new book by University of Montreal professors Dr. Franca Cortoni and Myriam Rousseau, Female Sexual Offenders: Theory, Assessment and Treatment, discusses sexual offences by women and how they tend to be unrecognized and underreported. It provides information regarding prevalence theory, research and practice with female sexual offenders; providing an overview of female perpetrated sexual abuse, statistics on the crime, as well as treatment options for offenders.

The book examines several issues such as the rates of criminal recidivism among female offenders, emerging research on polygraph testing of these women and also compares the method of operating of male to female sexual offenders. It also provides a section of options for one-on-one and group treatment. It is said to be an accessible resource for professionals, students and researchers interested in this field.