I know that the rights of the accused have to be taken into account when a bill is considered, but, as I mentioned earlier, we too often forget the victims. They have to bear the consequences of the crime that has been committed for the rest of their lives. I have met people who have been assaulted, unlawfully confined, and I have met attempted murder victims. As soon as they leave court, they are left alone with themselves. They have had to go for counselling. After two or three months of counselling, those victims, people who had been assaulted at work, had to go back there. Afterwards, they were constantly afraid of being assaulted or followed. Sir, that can last a lifetime. I have known a number of people in that situation.
We are asking for stricter laws because, as police officers, we know the victims. They should be given priority. When I say that we have to get criminals off the streets, it is because of the victims. Laws are often designed to protect the rights of the accused and we are not against that. But I have seen cases where assaults occurred maybe 20 years previously and the victims are still experiencing the same trauma. They could not go out in the evening, they felt that they were being followed, and so on. That is post-traumatic shock. Some come out of it well, but others do less well, especially if they find out that they might bump into their attacker in the street. I have certainly seen cases where the defendant was in prison for 10 years or so and where the victim, knowing that he had been released—and I will spare you my comments about that—began to be afraid again. We have to consider that too.