The way female victims are treated in the Yukon justice system has improved, but lawyers, judges and court workers can still do more to show respect and concern for women’s safety.

This is one of the findings of Court Watch Yukon, a program that observed domestic violence and sexual assault cases in the territory over the past year.

Lawyers, women’s advocates and government employees, nearly all women, packed a meeting room at the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel last Thursday morning. They were there to hear the preliminary results of Court Watch Yukon’s year of data collection.

Charlotte Hrenchuk, the Yukon Status of Women Council (YSWC) co-ordinator, and Reem Girgrah, Court Watch’s volunteer co-ordinator, presented the data collected by volunteers who sat through the court proceedings and took notes.

They were examining how female victims were discussed in court, whether victim impact statements were requested and whether judges and Crown prosecutors showed concern for women’s safety, by imposing no-contact orders or asking questions about how the victims were feeling.

All the data will be compiled into a report that’s still in progress.

But the early cut shows volunteers observed 286 cases – the bulk of those in Whitehorse and a handful in Dawson City and Watson Lake.

The program expanded to the two communities’ circuit courts last year.

The stages of these cases were varied, from bail hearings to trials to sentencings to domestic violence treatment option court.

Court Watch Yukon first began in 2002, as an 18-month pilot project through the Victoria Faulkner Women’s Centre.

It was a response to high rates of violence against women and sexual assault in the Yukon.

The funding ran out, but the program was revived last year by the YSWC.

Hrenchuk said she and the volunteers have noticed “great improvement” since Court Watch’s first iteration.

“This is really, really heartening,” she told the crowd at Thursday’s seminar.

She noted that Crown prosecutors were often respectful and alert throughout court proceedings and expressed victims’ safety concerns.

Judges explained the process to victims and, in some cases, discussed the dynamics of violence against women, pointing out that sexual assault happens “too frequently” in the territory.

Female victims often had the support of Crown witness co-ordinators and the victim services branch of the territorial Department of Justice, Court Watch reported.

Hrenchuk also interviewed 14 women who’d been through the justice system as victims.

They found the courtroom environment intimidating, she said.

They were nervous about receiving negative social responses from judges and lawyers and about seeing the accused and his family.

Three of these women testified, Hrenchuk said, and none was offered a testimonial aid, such as speaking to the court via closed-circuit television (CCTV).

“It’s so hard to appear in front of those people and there’s such a small community and he has such a big family,” one woman told Hrenchuk.

“So to have all those circumstances and you go into court, you feel like you’re going to be the victim again ... and then you gotta relive everything in the questions that they’re gonna be asking you again.”

There are still many ways in which things could be improved, Court Watch found.

Lawyers occasionally made inappropriate comments in the courtroom before the judge entered, Girgrah said.

Two referred to accused men as a “vegetable” and “numb nuts.”

In another case, two lawyers were discussing when they were available for the next court appearance, but both had tropical vacations coming up that complicated their schedules.

“Meanwhile, the victim is sitting there,” Hrenchuk said. “She’s not going anywhere.”

Maybe these conversations could be held behind closed doors or with more sympathy, she said.

“People’s lives are on the line in that courtroom,” Hrenchuk said.

Another woman said she was so intimidated by the Crown prosecutor – she felt like she was on trial just talking to him in his office – that she didn’t show up for court.

“If we want more women to participate in the justice system, we have to make it as safe as possible for them,” said Hrenchuk.

They noted language is still used by lawyers and judges that minimizes and mutualizes violence – for instance, calling domestic violence an “argument” or rape “sexual intercourse.”

Going forward, Court Watch recommends more publication bans for victims’ identities, increased use of CCTV to testify, more use of victim impact statements and more accurate descriptions of violence, including victims’ responses to it.

Court Watch has obtained a second year of funding, so Girgrah and the volunteers will continue to gather data.

They hope to strengthen the program in Dawson and Watson Lake, and also look at female offenders and the criminalization of women responding to violence.