6. Primary victims

Victim type:

A person who is injured or passes away because of a violent act

Requirements:

There must be a direct link between the violent act and the victim’s injury or them passing away. This means that without the violent act, the injury or death would not have occurred.

Example:

One night Hardeep’s estranged brother came to his house and threatened to kill him. Hardeep was traumatised and developed anxiety because of this incident.

Hardeep is a primary victim, as it was because of his brother’s threats to kill him that he developed post traumatic stress disorder.

Victim type:

A child who hears, witnesses or is exposed to the effects of a violent act

Requirements:

The child must have suffered an injury as a direct result of:

• overhearing the violent act taking place (even if they were in another room)
• seeing the violent act taking place, or
• be exposed to the violent act, this could mean they
  • comforted or provided assistance to a victim of a violent act
  • cleaned up after a violent act has taken place, or
  • were present when police attended a violent act.

This means that for a child to be a primary victim, the violent act does not have to be committed against them directly.

Example:

Daisy is eight years old and lives with her mother. One evening, her father broke into their home. Daisy hid in another room but could hear her father assaulting her mother. Once he left, Daisy found her mother unconscious and called an ambulance. Daisy is traumatised and develops depression.

Daisy is a primary victim because she is a child and heard and was exposed to the effects of a violent act.

Victim type:

A person who tries to aid or rescue a victim

Requirements:

The person must have been trying to rescue or aid someone they reasonably believed was a victim of a violent act, either during or immediately after the violent act.

There must be a direct link between them intervening in a violent act and the injury they suffered.

Example:

Mo was at home when he heard his housemate Lin yelling. Mo entered Lin’s room and found a person assaulting her. Mo pulled the person off Lin and as a result he now suffers anxiety.

Mo is a primary victim because he was psychologically injured while aiding Lin, who was being assaulted.

Victim type:

A person who tries to arrest a person or prevent a crime

Requirements:

The person must be able to show that they tried to intervene in a violent act and were injured as a direct result of their efforts.

When a victim tries to arrest someone, they must have reasonably believed that a violent act occurred, and that the person was the offender of that act.

Someone who is injured trying to prevent a violent act must show their actions were proactive rather than accidental or incidental, such as placing themselves in a position of perceived and real danger.

Example:

Daniel saw an assault unfolding and rushed to intervene. Once he arrived, he physically restrained the offender until police arrived. As a result of the struggle with the offender, Daniel's previous back injury became exacerbated, and he now needs further surgery and treatment for this injury. Daniel is a primary victim because he tried to intervene in a violent act and was injured as a direct result of his efforts.