Review of Supportive Measures and Preventive Actions Against Secondary Victimization of Children and Adolescents in Canadian Law

Abstract

One of the significant issues in the field of special victims (children and adolescents) is the existence of protective laws or the provision of policy frameworks intended to address existing deficiencies in improving the current situation. Secondary victimization of children and adolescents refers to the harms inflicted upon victims as a result of the reactions of official institutions and criminal justice processes following the occurrence of the primary offense. This form of victimization may generate profound psychological, social, and legal consequences and can seriously undermine children’s trust in the justice system. Accordingly, the principal challenge is to identify and examine the preventive and supportive measures addressing this type of victimization within the Canadian legal system. Secondary victimization of children and adolescents constitutes one of the emerging challenges in contemporary criminal justice systems and refers to the adverse consequences of institutional interventions, judicial procedures, and social reactions following primary victimization. The present study employs an analytical–comparative method and draws upon Canadian federal and provincial legal documents to examine supportive measures and preventive actions concerning secondary victimization of children and adolescents. The research focuses on the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) and provincial protective legislation, including Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act and British Columbia’s Child, Family and Community Service Act. The findings indicate that the institutionalization of principles such as the minimization of criminal justice intervention, protection of confidentiality, informed participation of the child, and the integration of criminal and social support mechanisms plays an effective role in reducing secondary victimization. The article concludes that effective prevention of secondary victimization requires institutional coordination and a child-centered policy-oriented approach; a model from which the Canadian experience may provide valuable guidance for other legal systems.