It does depend on the nature of the offence, but predominantly the emotions that victims describe to our organization centre around being let down by the justice system. They feel their perspective is not taken into account and that the gravity of the offence and their suffering is not taken into account in handing down sentences. There was a case in Orangeville recently where a woman was sexually assaulted by a friend of her husband. He received a conditional sentence. Although there was no penetration, she was sexually assaulted and she did have many of the associated side effects. She felt a conditional sentence did not meet the consequences of the actions.
Another emotion we commonly experience, especially in cases of domestic violence and sexual violence, is fear. The victims do not feel that any consideration has been given to their safety by allowing an offender who has assaulted them, or an ex-spouse who continues to threaten or harass them, into the community. They feel those concerns are not taken into account, whereas if they are incarcerated, they cannot be followed, they cannot be parked in front of their house, and it's much less likely they'll get threatening phonecalls. All these things can happen unchecked while someone is on a conditional sentence.