Gaining Insight from Real-life Experiences

Personal stories give us the opportunity to understand the thoughts and emotions experienced by victims of crime, families of victims, victim service workers and volunteers. This section of the Guide contains six stories told by the people who lived them - a victim services volunteer, the mother of a murder victim, two professional victim service workers, a crown witness coordinator in Nunavut, the child of a victim of terrorism and the family of a victim of a gun crime.  These stories are moving and written to assist people in understanding the reality faced by victims of crime, their families and victim service providers.

These testimonials can be used during National Victims of Crime Awareness Week or throughout the year:

• to provide victims' experiences for articles, letters to the editor, and other media events;
• to include in stories for your organization's newsletters, bulletins, or other publications;
• as anecdotes for speeches or presentations on victim issues; and
• to support efforts for volunteer victim services recruitment.