Resources
Victim Services of Kingston and Frontenac is committed to providing crisis response, practical assistance and supportive programs to victims of crime and tragedy within Frontenac County. Please click on any of the links to take a look at some of the resources specific to our community.
Bereavement
Intimate Partner Violence
What is IPV?
Intimate Partner Violence (also known as domestic violence) is any actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial abuse in an intimate relationship (dating, common-law, married, divorced, living together or separated).
According to the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (that reviews domestic homicides in Canada and make recommendations to help prevent future homicides), roughly 70% of domestic homicides happen in situations that do not have a history of physical assaults and many times the homicides seem to happen around child custody cases and family court issues.
Risk Assessment
The Risk Assessment Checklist was developed by the Kingston Anti-Violence Coordinating Committee (KFACC) in order for victims and service providers to gain perspective on the level of risk a person and/or their children may be in. This tool can be used in the safety planning stage, helping guide victims more effectively.
Questions in the Risk Assessment Checklist with asterisks are deemed to be most concerning and highest risk of future violence and/or lethality.
Human Trafficking
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/ or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person; typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery.
Victims suffer physical or emotional abuse and often live and work in horrific conditions. They may also face fatal consequences if they attempt to escape. This crime represents a consistent and pervasive assault on the fundamental human rights of its victims.
The Stages of Exploitation
There are four main recruitment stages of exploitation one uses when trying to exploit a person into human sex trafficking.
Safety Planning
It’s important to keep in mind that you do not have control over another person’s level of violence. If you are being subjected to some form of abuse, creating a safety plan may help you to prepare for the possibility of future violence and hopefully help you protect yourself and your children.
Safety plans are information that’s specifically geared towards actions you can take, for yourself and / or your dependents. Risk factors change and that means safety plans also need to change sometimes.
For further information about this topic, please email info@victimserviceskingston.ca
On this resource page are a list of publications and links to provide you with information on safety planning. Some of the links are to our own work and some are to other community groups.
Other Safety Plans
Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is a term used to describe any violence – physical or psychological – carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality; includes sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse and sexual harassment. This includes:
- unwanted sexual comments or advances
- selling or attempting to sell a person(s) for sex
- acts of violence directed against an individual because of their sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim
