Christina cannot yet write and is too frightened to speak in an open courtroom. What measures, if any, might be devised to encourage and/or facilitate Christina's participation in the preparation and/or delivery of a victim impact statement? In framing your response, be certain to cite relevant materials from multiple Modules.
I am uncomfortable answering this question because I am not certain that having a five-year-old victim participating in the preparation or delivery of a victim impact statement is even remotely appropriate, even if that child is not required to speak in open court in order to do so. I feel that having a 5-year-old participate in creating a victim impact statement, which, at least theoretically, will impact the sentencing of the offender. If the sentence is not sufficiently long, I have serious concerns that the child victim, who was almost certainly exposed to attempts by the defendant to condition her to accept blame for the abuse, will then internalize that failure and believe it is due to something she...
Therefore, I feel like this might not be an appropriate role for a victim advocate. I certainly do not think that encouraging such participation if the victim does not want to do so is appropriate in any way. I think that would strip the victim of personal control.
However, let us say that Christina wants to be able to explain to people how she has been hurt by the sexual assault. She could draw pictures or make other non-verbal representations about how she feels about the sexual assaults. Some states also have victim impact forms with direct question that the child could fill out with help from the parent or victim advocate. It is critical that the child provide the answers. Such a form might ask the child to circle a face that describes the child's emotions (sad, mad, scared, happy, etc.), or ask the child what she would do to a perpetrator if she were the judge. An important question for the victim is: what can be done to help you (the child victim) feel safe again?
