On Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, Marianne Brueckert wants those who suffer crime and tragedy to know they are not alone in going through the police and court process.
The Hope/Boston Bar Victim Services program has been around 27 years, which is as long as program manager Marianne Brueckert has been with the program. Brueckert has been involved unimaginable situations, from domestic abuse to the loss of children to missing persons, all the while guiding the victims (or survivors as some prefer to be known) through the police and judicial process.
“It puts a lot into perspective around what’s important when you see people lose someone they love or you see tragedy that befalls someone or violence and you kind of look at your own circumstance and you appreciate to a greater degree what you have,” she said. “So those are kind of almost great gifts you take away from the work, of looking at people’s amazing resilience and strength.”
The program covers a wide geographical area — Hope, Laidlaw, Sunshine Valley, Yale, Fraser Canyon and Boston Bar. The staff, Brueckert and her colleague Jan Bentley, also work with victims of many different types of crimes including homicide, suicide, traffic fatalities, assaults and missing persons.
“Domestics and fatalities are our two largest file loads,” she said, adding the program also serves less common crimes including fraud, criminal harassment more commonly known as stalking, home invasions and robberies. “I think pretty much any type of crime we can be involved with and any age group. We work with very young children right through to the elderly.”
Victim services become involved right from the start, sometimes attending to the scene of a crime or tragedy. They then follow people through the legal proceedings until the sentencing happens.
Occasionally, if a sentence involves incarceration, they will work with the victims through the parole process. One step few know about is registering with the correctional service, to get updates about offenders and their potential for parole.
“The key thing is getting registered because people don’t know they have that right and the Correctional Service of Canada does not have the mandate to proactively reach out, they have to rely on victims to come to them,” she said.
The services Brueckert offers are purely voluntary, if a person does not want assistance through the process they are not mandated to.
A lot of the work involves informing people about the judicial process including how trials work, what delays and time frames are involved, what rights the victims have and don’t have, as well as how the victims can be heard in a system focused on the rights of the accused.
“(Victims are) not the most important piece in that puzzle, even though they should be. Our system is set up around, basically, dealing with the offender. And prior to being convicted, there are a lot of rights that kick into gear for an offender, so the presumption of innocence before you’re found guilty is a key one,” she said.
It is sometimes very difficult to get alleged offenders convicted as the bar for conviction is extremely high: a judge has to be convinced ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ that a perpetrator is guilty.
For Brueckert, however, success is not based on these convictions. Instead, she wants to see victims able to walk through the process and move on with their lives.
“It’s not important to me that the person is actually convicted,” she said. “It’s important that (the victims) get through it, that they feel strong in doing it and that they know they have a voice…Part of the problems we’ve had, I think, historically is people haven’t had a voice, aren’t believed, don’t come forward.”
Changes in the legal landscape have improved the situation for victims and survivors, some examples include the ability to testify by video or behind a screen and the ability of witnesses and immediate family of victims to seek support. These rights are enshrined in a Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, which came into force in 2015, and B.C.’s own Victims of Crime Act.
In addition to serving victims and survivors, the program also does some more non-traditional and preventative activities including the Purple Light Nights event against domestic violence, trauma-informed yoga and making sure people have the tools to care for themselves when the Victim Service workers cannot be there.
Victims and Survivors of Crime Week runs from May 27 to June 2. The week is held each year to raise awareness about what victims and survivors face, as well as what services, laws and programs are available to those individuals and families who are survivors of crime.
The theme this year is ‘transforming the culture, together’: For Brueckert this involves redefining how society views victims of crime and how those involved in support them collaborate.
“I don’t see the word victim as a dirty word. It’s often something that’s been done to you, it’s not something you’ve necessarily contributed to. So it’s trying to sometimes change the thinking around it, that it makes you unable to look after yourself or defend yourself in certain situations or that you asked for something. I think largely we have to change that,” Brueckert said.
If someone is the victim of a crime or trauma, they can get in touch with Victim Services at 604-869-7770 to speak with someone or leave a confidential voice message.
Assistance provides by Victim Services:
- Emotional support
- Information about the status of the police investigation and or your court case
- Assistance applying for the Crime Victim Assistance Program, if you are eligible
- Referrals to other agencies for further assistance
- Assistance in completing a Victim Impact Statement
- Court orientation and preparation; court accompaniment if necessary
- Crisis intervention – support and practical assistance at crime scene
- Bereavement assistance
- Assistance with emergency shelter
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