Our Victims DO Matter
29th October 2018
I attended the Justice Summit as a representative for the Sensible Sentencing Group Trust and the incredible victims we represent. It was my first political event, one I thought would be an opportunity to have open conversations with people who had the power to make change. Change that is urgently needed for the victims and the families of serious crime. I was excited that this opportunity would offer our victims and their families the chance to have a voice.

Within hours it was made blatantly clear by the Politicians, the Offenders and the Kaumatua that this Summit was not intended to help, acknowledge or even listen to the real victims of serious crime.

Andrew Little stated “The purpose of the Summit was to bring together experts and those on the front-line to have the tough conversations, and it certainly achieved its intent.” The only intent was a political agenda pushing the rights of the offender; the victim’s needs did not matter.

The tough conversations involved endless speeches, and endless stories of how offenders were victims too. As both a Victim Advocate and a survivor, it was absolutely sickening. The ‘tough conversations’ should have been re-written to say, ‘tough listening’. We sat, and we listened for hours about how each offender blamed their past, their treatment by an unjust and racist legal system. We heard how everyone, and everything was to blame for an offender’s choices. Not one offender or politician spoke of personal accountability or responsibility.

Kelvin Davis spoke about a man named Sam. A true story about a man who was supposedly let down by our Justice System, a man Kelvin Davis claimed to be a ‘victim’. This ‘victim’ had spent over half of his life behind bars. What Kelvin Davis didn’t mention during his speech was the reason this man spent over 30 years in Prison. If anyone knows anything about the Justice System, to spend that much time incarcerated means some very serious crimes were committed. This man ruined the lives of multiple innocent victims. These innocent victims were not mentioned in this story. They did not matter.

Andrew Little stated “It was pretty extraordinary seeing people who have offended stand up beside people who have been victimised and empathise with each other’s points of view.” This statement quite honesty makes me extremely angry. What we witnessed and what we heard was nothing like what Andrew Little has written about. Why? Because our victims, their voices, their concerns, their experiences did not matter. Andrew Little has absolutely no understanding or empathy for victims’ or their families. He does not understand the suffering they endure or the ongoing battles they face because of our current Justice System. We as Victim Advocates from the Sensible Sentencing Group Trust, did not see one real victim standing beside an offender at the Summit. And why should they? Why would they want to?

Andrew Little’s focus and political agenda is driven by the so-called rights of offenders. Our victims did not get a voice, nor were they given the respect or the justice they so rightfully deserve.

Andrew Little - Our Victims DO matter!! ENDS

Refer to Justice Matters issue 12 - October 2018
https://www.justice.govt.nz/about/news-and-media/justice-matters-newsletter/#issue-12

Karrin Coates
Victim Advocate
Sensible Sentencing Group Trust

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