Giving Victims a Voice

8/7/2019 Giving Victims a Voice

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/giving-victims-a-voice 1/6

Giving a Voice

to VICTIMSOFFICE OF THE FEDERAL OMBUDSMANFOR VICTIMS OF CRIME



Who We areCreated in 2007, the O fce o the Federal Ombudsman or Victims o Crime (OFOVC) is an independent ederal government o fce that works tohelp victims o crime and their amilies.

What We dothe oFoVC responds direCtly to calls, emails and letters rom

victims o crime, and works to ensure the ederal government meetsits responsibilities to victims. We:

in orm victims about the ederal programs and services that exist•

to help them

address complaints made by victims about ederal government•

departments, agencies, employees, laws or policies

re er victims to programs and services in their city or province that•

may be able to assist them

identi y issues that have a negative impact on victims and make•

recommendations to the ederal government on how it can enhanceits policies and laws to meet their needs



eVery ViCtim CountsI you have been, or have worked with, a victim o crime and havequestions or a complaint about a ederal law, policy or service,please contact us.

The experiences you share with us will help us better understand theissues acing victims in Canada. Based on this in ormation, we canmake recommendations to the ederal government on how it canchange its policies or laws to better address the needs and concernso victims.

educate ederal law and policy-makers about the needs•

and concerns o victims

promote the principles set out in the• Canadian Statement

of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime withdecision and policy-makers





haVe a Complaint?Any individual or organization can contact our o fce to make a complaint.However, we can review and address only those complaints that relateto victims o crime and their treatment by ederal departments, agencies,employees, laws or policies.

I you are not sure i your complaint alls within our mandate, don’tworry. I we cannot address your complaint directly, we will happily helpby connecting you with the appropriate agency or service. We want tohear rom you.

Because every victim’s situation isdi erent, we address complaintson a case-by-case basis.

Generally, we work closely with thevictims who contact us to try to fndsolutions. I the case doesn’t allwithin our mandate, we will do our

best to re er the victim to theappropriate organization or o fce.

All in ormation we receive romvictims is kept strictly confdentialand is not shared, unless theindividual gives us permissionto do so.

hoW We address Complaints



Who is Considered a “ViCtim oF Crime?”

The law defnes a victim as someone who has experienced emotional or physicalharm as the result o a crime. Family members, legal guardians or dependantsare considered victims when the victim is deceased, is a child, or is unable to act

or him/hersel due to illness or incapacity.

What is an ombudsman?

An ombudsman is someone appointed by the government to receive andreview complaints made by citizens against government o fcials, agencies ordepartments. An ombudsman operates at arm’s length rom the governmentto make sure that he or she remains impartial.

hoW you Can reaCh uss f c : O fce o the Federal Ombudsman or Victims o Crime

P.O. Box 55037, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1A1t ( -f ):

1-866-481-8429

F x: 613-941-3498

e- : [email protected]

W :www.victimsfrst.gc.ca

other questions you may haVe

Documents

Giving Victims a Voice