A voice for victims and offenders

By Laragh Dooley

Sharon Rosenfeldt will never be able to work directly with offenders, knowing, she says, that it would be too painful. But remarkably, the long-time champion for victims’ rights has started teamed up with people who advocate for offenders’ rights.

Rosenfeldt has paired up with people who work with offenders to ensure the Taking it to the Streets project is a success. This is a new initiative intended to address safety concerns among Centretown residents.

Taking it to the Streets will consist of three components: a survey to gather residents’ perceptions of neighbourhood crime, a safety fair to inform them of services offered in the community and a town hall forum to discuss and raise issues of concern.

“There are some things that victim advocates and offender advocates will never agree on,” says Rosenfeldt.” But there are times when differences need to be put aside because you all want a common goal – for our families and neighbourhoods to feel safe.”

Twenty-five years ago, Rosenfeldt was leading a good life. She was married with three healthy kids. She enjoyed her job as a drug and alcohol abuse councillor and her husband, Gary, was a successful real estate agent. They had just moved from Edmonton to Vancouver and were settling nicely into their new neighbourhood. But, on an April morning in 1981, her happy life came crashing down.

Her 16-year-old son, Daryn, went to the store and never came home. Rosenfeldt’s soft brown eyes still water as she recalls watching him walk out the front door.

“We said goodbye as usual. He was only supposed to be gone for one hour, just one quick hour,” says Rosenfeldt. “As a mother, I knew something wasn’t right when he wasn’t back by noon. By 2 o’clock, I was worried sick. By 3 o’clock, I was panicking. And by nightfall, I was absolutely beside myself. No words can describe that feeling.” Rosenfeldt later learned that her oldest son was one of 11 children abducted and murdered by serial killer Clifford Olson. She says that during the time Daryn was missing, her family received little help from anyone to find her son.

“The police wouldn’t even take Daryn’s name until he had been missing for 48 hours. Do you have any idea how long 48 hours is? It felt like forever.”

Rosenfeldt says when the killer was eventually arrested, the attention of the justice system was focused solely on the offender. She felt the legal system offered no guidance or support to the victim’s family, and so she decided to fight for some change.

She founded Victims of Violence, a national charitable organization designed to provide support and assistance to victims of violent crime and to assist the families of missing children in the search for their loved ones. Rosenfeldt and her organization are responsible for the establishment of the RCMP missing children registry, the victims’ bill of rights, victims’ impact statements, victims’ right to attend parole hearings and many more triumphs.

In 1989, Rosenfeldt moved her family and her organization’s headquarters to Ottawa. She says she wanted to be closer to Parliament Hill so she could affect legislation more easily.

Sitting in her Centretown office she reveals how the police told her they had found a body of a young boy, but they were sure it was not Daryn. They phoned back a day later and said they had made a mistake; it was Daryn.

She also says a journalist, not the police, informed her that her son’s body had been found nude and raped. Rosenfeldt says these mistakes and lack of communication are not acceptable. She slowly sips her steaming coffee but even with tears in her eyes, her hand is steady. Over the years she has emerged as a woman of great courage, willing to share her life story in the hope that it will help others.

Since the tragic murder of her son, Rosenfeldt has dedicated her time and energy to victims’ rights in Canada.

Susan Love is the project co-ordinator of Taking it to the Streets. She is employed by Circles of Support and Accountability, a program that assists with reintegration of high-risk sex offenders into the community.

Rosenfeldt, who is part of Taking it to the Streets’ steering committee, helped construct the safety survey that will be distributed, plans to set up a booth at the group’s safety fair and is organizing the town hall forum.

Love has really appreciated Rosenfeldt’s involvement in the program, and says she brings a refreshing perspective because of her personal involvement and work with victims.

“Her presence at meetings and events brings a sort of unspoken reverence for the difficult journey she and her family have travelled,” says Love. “Both she and I recognized the diverse work we each do, she with victims and me with former offenders – it seemed like a perfect fit. We all come from the same place – we all need to contribute to our community and to feel safe.”

Brittany Faulkner began working for Victims of Violence over a year ago after a family member was murdered. She says Rosenfeldt’s ability to team up with people who defend offenders’ rights is a true testament to her character.

“Someone coming from an offender point of view is very different than hers, but she is so open minded that she can appreciate every point of view,” says Faulkner. “She can listen very well, but also knows when to speak up. She will stand up and speak out for victims’ rights in any, and every, situation that warrants it.”

Faulkner says most victims’ advocates, including Rosenfeldt, believe that violent offenders are given too many chances by our legal system to reform. She remembers listening to Rosenfeldt remain very calm and composed one afternoon while a man said that Canada is far too quick to lock criminals up for long periods of time.

Rosenfeldt admits this is the first time she has ever worked with people who advocate for offenders’ rights, but hopes it isn’t her last.

She became involved with the project because she wants to learn about all sides of the justice system. She says it is necessary to understand the different perspectives if you want to see change. “The more you know then the better off you are when you are arguing your case to the government,” says Rosenfeldt.

She says she now knows that rehabilitation can sometimes work, even with violent offenders. She has also learned that there are hundreds of programs in place to prevent criminals from re-offending once they are released from jail.

“I used to think they just walked out,” she says. “I knew they had to report to a parole officer, but now I see that the system is really designed for them to succeed.”

She says she has an increased level of respect for anyone who helps improve the legal system – whether for the perpetrators or for the victims.

Despite being the only member with a background dealing with victims’ issues, she says she has been welcomed with open arms and feels valued by the group.

“For every crime that happens, there are two sides involved – the offender and the victim,” says Rosenfeldt. “For so long the victim’s voice was silent.” She says everyone involved with the Taking it to the Streets program wants to hear the victim’s voice.

Steve Sullivan, executive director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, says Rosenfeldt has been his inspiration. He says she is a key reason for his current career choice.

“She started when no one else was advocating for victims,” he says. “She pioneered, banged on doors, knocked down doors and screamed really loud until people finally listened.”

He says that while many people would barely be able to get out of bed or get through the day after facing a tragedy like Rosenfeldt’s, she was able to take on Canada’s legal system.

He believes she has paved the way for other families who have faced violence to speak out, that victims are not to blame and that they deserve to be heard and treated with dignity by our system.

He says that before Rosenfeldt stood up, victims were not allowed to speak at their perpetrator’s parole hearing. She fought for this to change and won. Victims are now allowed to read their impact statement.

Both Sullivan and Rosenfeldt agree that victims’ rights have come a long way in Canada since Daryn’s murder in 1981.

But, Rosenfeldt says there are still many more changes to accomplish. For example, she wants killers such as Olson to serve consecutive rather than concurrent life sentences for their crimes.

She says that for now, she is going to carry on with the Streets team, keep running Victims of Violence, and keep challenging unfair legislation. She has no plans to slow down.

“Once you’ve been through hell and back, you can tackle anything.”