PLEA gratefully acknowledges our primary core funder the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan for their continuing and generous support of our organization.
Victims have the right to have their safety considered by people dealing with their case and the right to be protected as much as possible from intimidation and retaliation.
The first concern when anyone has been victimized is safety. What you need to be safe will depend on the situation. Sometimes this means calling the police, leaving the house or doing whatever you need to do to stop the victimization. It may also involve doing things like changing your locks, cancelling your credit cards or changing your phone number.
Even once you are out of immediate danger you may still have safety concerns. Perhaps you are afraid that the person who harmed you will victimize you again. Perhaps the person who harmed you threatened further harm to you or your family if you go to the police or testify in court.
If you fear for your safety call the police. If the concerns arise when you are a witness, talk to the Crown Prosecutor about them.
If possible, record the dates of any incidents along with a description of what happened. Keep any physical evidence and make copies of any electronic communications. Keep a record of anyone who may have witnessed the occurrences.
If harassment or threats are made by phone, use the call trace feature through your phone company. Information about this feature can be found in the front pages of your phone book, or you can contact the phone company. Call trace allows the phone company to provide the police with evidence that can be used in court. You can also record the phone calls yourself.
It is a criminal offence for anyone to make you reasonably fear for your safety or the safety of someone you know by...
No actual injury need occur. The offender does not need to have intended to harm you. If their behaviour would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety, it is criminal harassment. In some cases an offender may be prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives. Serious cases could result in an offender being sent to jail for up to 10 years.
It is a criminal offence for anyone to try to force you to do something or prevent you from doing something by...
Offenders can be jailed for up to 5 years. In some cases an offender may be prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives.
It is also a criminal offence to intimidate a witness punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
It is a criminal offence for anyone to threaten to...
The maximum penalty for threatening death or bodily harm is 5 years imprisonment. The maximum penalty for uttering threats to damage property or kill or injure animals is 2 years.
It is a criminal offence to make an indecent telephone call, or to repeatedly call someone to harass them. It is also a criminal offence to tell someone false information with the intent to injure or alarm them, for example, to falsely tell you that someone close to you has been injured or killed. The maximum punishment for these offences is 2 years in jail.
Extortion means using threats or violence to get someone to do something or to obtain something. Extortion is a criminal offence. Many people think of extortion as involving only money, but this is not always the case. For example, a person could be convicted of extorting an act of sexual intercourse.
This offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. If a firearm is used, the minimum sentence is 4 years imprisonment.
PLEA offers free online training on preventing and addressing workplace harassment.