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The Department of Justice Canada
defines a victim as '…. any person who is harmed, killed, or
suffering as a result of an accidental or intentional act or
situation. The victim may experience suffering and loss, e.g.
physical, psychological, emotional, financial, social, medical,
and others.' The important points of this definition include:
Any person - anyone can become a victim
and there may be one victim or many victims from any
situation.
Harmed, killed or suffering - there can be primary,
secondary or tertiary victims involved in any situation.
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Primary victims include those
directly involved in the critical event - the dead,
the injured and their loved ones.
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Secondary victims include those
who are in some way observers of immediate traumatic
effects on primary victims - eyewitnesses, rescuers,
converging rescuers.
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Tertiary victims include those
removed from the critical event but who are impacted
through encountering a primary or secondary victim -
immediate neighbours, community members, former
victims.
Accidental or intentional act or
situation – victimization may result from acts or situations
which may or may not be a crime and may or may not have a
perpetrator.
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