Victims' Voices Heard is a dialogue program that offers victims, and victims' survivors of violent crimes the opportunity to meet with their offender face-to-face in order to facilitate the healing recovery process. Victims' Voices Heard acts as an advocate on behalf of the victim, helping them through the process and arranging a safe and secure environment for the meeting to take place.
Meeting with the offender can provide victims with the opportunity for personal insight, empowerment, and structure for their grieving and healing. Also, victims have the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers and insight, which only the offender can provide.
Our program is an opportunity...
- For offenders to express remorse, admit guilt, and take responsibility for the full impact of their behavior upon the victim, their families and their communities.
- For offenders to hear first-hand the depth of trauma experienced by the victim.
Mission Statement
Victims' Voices Heard is committed to assisting all victims/survivors of crime close another chapter in the healing process. We advocate for all victims as they seek to find the answers that will enable them to feel empowered and move forward with their lives.
Comments from dialogue participants:
DUI Victim - "I need for him to know the people he killed. They were my family and I don't think he knows what he's taken from me."
Victim of Sexual Assault - "I need to ask him why he did this."
Rape Victim - "I want to know I'll be safe when he gets out."
Rape Victim - "I never saw him. I need to put a face to my fear."
Rape Victim - "I have wanted to talk to him for years. I keep feeling like I'm getting on with my life and what happened keeps coming up."
Rape Victim - "When my offender went to prison, he took me with him. My jail had no bars, but it did. It had invisible bars, the kind that kept the sunshine out and locked me inside."
Sexual Assault Victim - "This isn't like backing into a car, you apologize, pay the damages and everything is better. Hearing him say he is sorry will help, but the wounds are still too deep to buff out."
DUI Victim - "I need to know who he is--match a face to this. I need to hear him take responsibility for killing them."
Rape Victim - "I never got to see him. It's like the boogie man in the closet and I don't know who to be afraid of."
