European Day for Victims of Crime

History of European Day for Victims of Crime

In 1990, the European Organization for Victims Assistance proclaimed February 22 as European Day for Victims of Crime in Stockholm, Sweden. Europe Day gives impetus to remember those who have suffered at the hands of crime - millions of people each year - children and adults, women and men, the poor and the rich, residents and visitors to the EU.

In 2019, European Victims Assistance and its members took a series of actions to advance victims' rights and help victims of crime in the European Union:

• As of November 2015, the Victims' Rights Directive sets forth a set of explicit rights for victims of crime and obligations to European Union Member States to ensure these rights.
• July 2019 - VSE and project partners completed the VOCIARE Project to study the actual implementation of the Victims Directive at the national level. The project's findings could serve as the basis for a careful rethink, at the EU and national level, on how victim rights are enacted (or not) and what can be done to improve them.
• November 2019 - VSE CEO Levent Altan participated in the meeting of the Senior Victim Rights Specialist meeting. The experts concluded that despite much progress in the area of ​​victim protection, victim rights rules were not always well implemented.
• November 2019 - European Victims Assistance has published a Europe-wide analysis of victims' access to compensation: A journey from crime to restitution. This report analyzes the ability of European Member States to introduce fair and appropriate victim-centered compensation schemes. Victim assistance organizations and other stakeholders have provided essential evidence on the inner workings of national compensation schemes, their good practices, and recommendations for future action and the current impact on the victim.
• December 2019 - European Victim Assistance is appointed to run the European Commission's Center for Expertise on Victims of Terrorism. The EU Center will offer concrete and practical actions that have a positive impact on the victims of terrorism. In particular, the EU Center will provide guidelines and training for practitioners, information for victims and will develop a network of experts at the national level to support knowledge exchange and applications.

How to celebrate European Day for Victims of Crime

Every year, an estimated 15% of Europeans or 120 million people from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe become victims of serious crime.

Approximately 35% of women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence against an intimate partner or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.

In the European Union, today all victims of crime benefit from a set of explicit rights, independent of where the crime took place in the European Union. In particular, the Victims' Rights Directive, adopted in November 2015, provides for the right to be recognized and to be treated with respect, professionalism and non-discrimination. The primary goal of these high standards is to avoid further harm to the victim during criminal proceedings.

Member States are required to translate the Victims Directive into their national context and implement it in practice to enable victims to exercise the rights enshrined therein until 16 November 2015. However, to date, Member States have not fully established appropriate procedures and mechanisms to put the Directive into practice.

Supporting Victims Europe, its members and partners have prioritized the implementation of the Directive and are determined to make victims' rights a reality.

Using the recent findings of our VOCIARE Project, a basis for careful review, at the national and EU levels, of how victim rights are enacted (or not), we I will take all necessary steps to improve their position.

We aim to ensure that all victims in Europe have access to information and support services after a crime, regardless of where the victim lives or where the crime occurred.