The CAVAC-INFO Program
by: Sylvie Biscaro, Director General, Mauricie Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC) and
Eric Malo, Clinical Counsellor, Mauricie Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC)

Disclaimer:
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice Canada.

A reassuring link to help victims move forward

Being a victim of crime is always a difficult experience for people to go through, as they are faced with an unwanted and unforeseen event, which often leaves them reeling. Furthermore, when a complaint is filed with the police, the ensuing judicial process is something most people are unfamiliar with. One of the great needs of victims is information:

• being informed,
• knowing the steps of the judicial process,
• becoming familiar with rights and remedies,
• as well as the services available to them.

Being more informed allows victims to make better choices for themselves and to use the resources best suited to their needs.

With the cooperation of the Direction des Services de justice and the Bureau du Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales of the Trois-Rivières courthouse, the Mauricie Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC) is updating the CAVAC-INFO Program. This program aims to inform crime victims of decisions of the Superior Court and of the Court of Québec, Criminal and Penal Division.

As part of this program, CAVAC workers get in touch with victims to help provide them with information about criminal justice proceedings and offer quick access to CAVAC's services: post-trauma and psychosocial intervention; accompaniment to court; information about rights and remedies; technical assistance; etc.

During a call, a CAVAC worker was speaking with a woman who had been the victim of harassment by a work colleague. The woman recounted her situation to the worker:

"Two months ago my spouse and I split up after several years of living together. Shortly thereafter, my work colleagues found out about this and one of them showed a marked interest in dating me. I told him I was not interested and that this made me uncomfortable. He reacted badly and began to be abusive and harass me. At first the harassment occurred at work during business hours. Later I realized that he was following me home in his car and was driving by my place often. Around the same time I was also receiving a lot of anonymous phone calls, which increased my fear. I tried to stay strong throughout this time.

One day a colleague at work commented that lately I had been acting differently around the colleague who had been harassing me. I snapped - I burst into tears and told her what I had been going through. She suggested that filing a complaint with the police should put a stop to it. So I took the rest of the day off and went to the police station and reported what I had been going through."

The CAVAC worker took the time to listen to her and put her at ease. The woman was quite surprised to receive a call offering services that she did not know existed. She became more at ease and open to talking, in greater detail, about the reactions and effects of what she was going through. The worker told her about CAVAC's services. The woman thanked the worker and mentioned that the call had done her good and that she hoped a worker would call her in order to offer her CAVAC's services.

Later, we found out what was going through the woman's mind on the day the worker called her as part of CAVAC-INFO.

For three days the woman:

• had not gone to work
• had not spoken to anyone
• had isolated herself, staying at home alone
• had not eaten
• had trouble sleeping
• had questioned herself about the criminal justice system
• had questioned herself about the reasons for her divorce
• had questioned herself about her life

On the day of that call, the woman had a plan … she was going to commit suicide by taking all of the drugs she had in her medicine cabinet.

It was only a few months later that the woman told the follow-up worker about her suicide plan. The fact that the woman felt supported and that she was able to obtain information on judicial proceedings at the criminal court in addition to benefiting from CAVAC services helped her feel less alone. She was able to better understand what the criminal justice system involved as a crime victim and what she had gone through in terms of reactions and effects at the time.

The CAVAC-INFO program is one of the most proactive components of the CAVAC Network of Quebec. Contacting crime victims to inform them of decisions made in judicial proceedings at the criminal court and of the services offered by CAVAC allow many crime victims to feel that there is a reassuring link to help them move forward!