Multi-faceted Layers of Support: Peer Support for Survivors of Homicide Victims

Finding Strength in Each Other

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This guide contains general information only and is not intended as legal advice. For legal advice, contact a lawyer. (PDF Version, 496 kb, PDF Help)

Michel Germain
Director General

L’Association des Familles de Personnes Assassineés ou Disparues (AFPAD)

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Who are we?

The AFPAD is a non-profit organization that works throughout the entire province of Quebec and unites:

• the families of someone who has been murdered
• the families of someone who has gone missing in seemingly criminal circumstances

Each member of the AFPAD is not represented by an individual but by all of the members of a family affected by a homicide or a disappearance: parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents...

2003: distressing findings for relatives of victims

• No legal recognition;
• No psychological support for the family;
• $600 in financial aid for funeral expenses;
• No legal representation for relatives;
• Significant collateral damage for relatives of victims;
• Little expertise developed to help relatives;
• No financial or job security for relatives of victims who have been murdered or are missing;

Establishment of the AFPAD.

• In 2004, around fifty families affected by the cause got together to stand up and assert the rights of their victims.
• In fall 2005, the organization obtained its letter patents and was officially created.

Between 2005 and today...

Our victories...

Provincial

• 3 bills passed since 2006
  • Bill 25 passed in 2006
  • Bill 58 passed in 2007
  • Reform of the prison system in 2007
• Reform of the Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles in 2007
• Reform of police investigations in missing person cases in 2008
• Advisory panel
• Increased visibility for victims of crime

Federal

• 12 laws that have been amended, or are in the process of being amended, since 2005
  • DNA legislation
  • Creation of the sexual predators registry
  • Stiffer sentences for violent crimes
  • Reverse onus for repeat offenders
  • Minimum sentences for sexual predators
  • Consecutive sentencing in homicide cases
  • An end to double credit for time served in pre-trial custody
  • Stiffer sentences for trafficking drugs to minors
  • An end to statutory releases without merit
  • Minimum sentences for trafficking minors
  • Employment insurance eligibility
  • Monitoring repeat and dangerous offenders
  • Reform of the parole and prison system
• Creation of the Ombudsman position at the federal level
• Establishment of the office for victims of crime

AFPAD serving families

• Meet with families the day after a traumatic event
  • Contact them and assist them after the incident
  • Explain the judicial process to families
  • Explain new legislation
• Guide and comfort families
  • Monthly lunch and learns (learning to share their experiences)
  • Thematic meetings with families
  • Professional references and listening
• Guide them in the judicial process
  • In Court at the beginning of each new step in the judicial process
  • Legal support in dealing with institutions (review process)
• Guide them in legal cases
  • Unsolved murders
  • Criminal disappearances
• Guide them in dealing with the media
• Research in victimology

AFPAD today

• 546 member FAMILIES
• Permanent offices in Montreal and Quebec City
• Competent and involved staff
• Board of Directors made up mainly of members who have lived through a traumatic event
• Emergency assistance fund for families
• Fund dedicated to university research in victimology: Isabelle Boisvenu Funds
• Volunteer legal advisors
• Volunteers in the regions to support families
• A network of partners dedicated to victim assistance
• An effective communication strategy (Web site, bilingual tools, quarterly newsletters, on-line discussion forum, media relations, conferences)

AFPAD tomorrow...

• A network of trained and available volunteers
• Activities in the regions, close to families
• On-line references and consulting services
• A media monitoring system for locating families experiencing a traumatic event more quickly
• A better understanding of families’ satisfaction with respect to services
• Better recognition of victims’ rights among the public and in public institutions
• Increased funding

Contact us

Montreal: (514) 396-7389
Quebec City: (418) 686-5443
Toll-free: 1-877-484-0404

administration@afpad.ca
www.afpad.ca

AFPAD offices:

6540 Beaubien Street East
Suite 300 D
Montreal, Quebec H1M 1A9

Tour de la Cité
2600 Laurier Boulevard
Suite 950
Quebec City, Quebec G1V 4W2

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