[News] Survivors and Victims

[portlock seagull]

Increasingly noticed change in words used to describe what used to be a ‘victim’ of crime.

Now people are increasingly survivors. For me, you survive a car crash. You’re a holocaust survivor etc.But you’re a victim of online fraud etc.

What’s behind the change I wonder? More importantly who’s responsible for sending the memo’s because frankly they’re doing a terrible job!

 

[The Clamp]

Increasingly noticed change in words used to describe what used to be a ‘victim’ of crime.

Now people are increasingly survivors. For me, you survive a car crash. You’re a holocaust survivor etc.But you’re a victim of online fraud etc.

What’s behind the change I wonder? More importantly who’s responsible for sending the memo’s because frankly they’re doing a terrible job!

What do you think is behind the change?

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Another example is someone suffering from a medical emergency/incident.

 

[Happy Exile]

Not sure if I'm being whooshed but everywhere language is changing to shift thinking away from people being identified or defined by a circumstance because that's a compassionate thing to do, especially when it is something done to someone and a moment in time, not necessarily how they identify as themselves. Victim remains the legal term but for anyone who works with people or knows people who are victims in the legal sense, the term survivor is much more empowering and is a foundation of recovery. Speaking personally, I was a victim of a crime when I was 14 - in the eyes of the law I'm still a victim of it. But for me, I'm a survivor of it. The difference is far more than nuance or semantics but an expression of my own agency and recovery and resilience - something was done to me, but I'd rather be defined by my response to it than the crime itself. It also takes power away from the perpetrator. 100% survivor, not victim.

See also how someone isn't a homeless person, they are temporarily unhoused - it's a short-term situation they are in, not their identity as a human. "Disabled person" is used less and less frequently as a generic term but a specific impairment might be referred to instead (e.g. "visually impaired" or "mobility impaired"), we talk more of people being neurodiverse or having different needs or adjustments required rather than "special needs".

No-one sends out a memo. Simplest way to keep on top of it all (and I fully sympathise it can seem like terms change a lot) is to look at relevant charities and copy their terms. They've done all the research and generally know what's appropriate, and you can even ask people how they'd like you to talk about things with them if you're worried about causing offence. Some won't mind, most will be delighted you've asked and very very occasionally some might take it the wrong way, but if you come from a place of genuine curiosity and wanting to be inclusive and get it right most people are very happy to help you do so.