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Victim impact survey

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A Survey for Victim/Survivors of Sexual Assault Who Have Been to Court The following brief survey asks you some questions about your experience of giving evidence in a court. In particular we are collecting information about 'victim impact statements'. You don't have to tell us who you are or go into any detail about what happened to you in relation to the assaults. It takes about 10 minutes and you can 'submit' it on-line straight away. We are hoping that the findings will help to inform possible changes to the law in this area.
1. What country do you live in?	Australia Other
2. Did you go to court in relation to what happened to you?	Yes No
3. Did you give evidence in the County Court, where there is a jury present?	Yes No there was no jury, just a judge No there was a magistrate Not sure
4. Did the offender(s) plead guilty or not guilty?	Guilty Not guilty Not sure
5. At any time during the court process, were you asked to prepare a Victim Impact Statement (VIS)?	Yes No Not sure
6. Who asked you to write/prepare one?	Police detective Police SOCA member Prosecutor Judge Was never asked to prepare a VIS I already knew about them Other
If 'Other' please specify
7. Did you know what to do?	Yes No Kind of
8. Did anyone help you to write/prepare your VIS?	Police detective Police SOCA member Counsellor Family member Friend No-one helped & I would've liked help No-one helped - I didn't need help Other
If 'Other' please specify
9. Were you able to include all of the information you wanted to?	Yes No
10. If 'NO', what kinds of limits were imposed on you?
11. Did you think a VIS would:	Be an opportunity to have your say Assist the court in coming up with a fair sentence Make the sentence higher Help the court to understand what happened to you Other
If 'Other' please specify
12. How was your VIS presented to the court?	The judge read it in private The judge read it to the court I had to give evidence
13. Were you cross-examined about your VIS by the offender's lawyer?	Yes The judge wouldn't allow it No
14. If 'YES', what were you questioned about?
15. How long were you cross-examined for?	About half an hour About an hour More than an hour
16. How did you feel about the way in which your VIS was used by the courts?	Very satisfied Quite satisfied Not sure Quite dissatisfied Very dissatisfied
17. Could you write a little about why you felt satisfied or dissatisfied about the process?
18. If we need to contact you in relation to your experience of making a VIS, would you mind us contacting you via email?	Yes No
Email address:
Submit survey
Our sincere thanks to you for completing this survey. We understand that it can be really hard to have to remember what it was like going to court, so if you would like to speak to a counsellor about how you're feeling, call SECASA on (03) 9594 2289 (24 hours).

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The South Eastern Centre Against Sexual Assault acknowledges the traditional Aboriginal owners of country throughout Victoria. We pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders past, present and future.