Victim services workers meet in Yellowknife

Victim services workers from across the North are gathering for the first time at a three-day conference in Yellowknife where they'll discuss their challenges and come up with solutions.

Attendees at the conference, which was two years in the planning, are expected to learn about the justice system and strategies for working with vulnerable victims of abuse and crime.

"I think rates of victimization are higher in northern communities than the rest of Canada," Steve Sullivan, federal ombudsman for Victims of Crime, said Wednesday.

Based in Ottawa, Sullivan flew to Yellowknife to hear from service providers first-hand and will make recommendations to the federal government.

Pamela Arnott, one of the conference organizers, said this is the first time so many service providers have been in one place at the same time.

"It's not a group that gets a lot of professional training so that's why I am so excited to bring together all these people who will ultimately improve the experiences of victims dealing with the criminal justice system."

Networking will help those who work with victims in remote communities, said Dawn McInnis, who manages Victim Services in the Northwest Territories.