Most major centres will have a victim/witness assistance office located in or near the court building. This office may be able to:

• Answer your questions and offer support during the trial if you are feeling vulnerable and traumatized.

• Provide space for you to wait in their area if you have to give testimony and are uncomfortable waiting outside the courtroom.

• Provide you and your family with a room near the courtroom where you can go during recesses and lunch breaks.

• Help address concerns about the quality of the sound in the courtroom and your ability to hear. (The microphones you see in the courtroom are not to amplify the sound for the spectators but they provide the audio for the tapes of the proceedings which are transcribed to form the official documentation of what took place [the transcripts]).

• Provide accompaniment when leaving the building, if you have security concerns.

• Arrange for an interpreter or for other special needs, if necessary.

• Monitor the availability of seating in the courtroom. (There are no reserved seats in the courtroom. The sessions are open to the public and anyone can sit anywhere.)

If you let the staff in this office know what your needs are, they will attempt to help. Ask them direct questions. Call them back if you need more help.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada. (2011). Getting through the maze: A guidebook for survivors of homicide.