Analysis on Annual Reports 2011 Victim Support Europe Members

Transcription

1 Victim Support Europe September 2012 No 3/2012 Analysis on Annual Reports 2011 Victim Support Europe Members Introduction Victim Support Europe, in an effort to summarise the achievements, efforts, progresses and changes of victim support services throughout Europe, distributed to all its members small questionnaire. From the 28 VSE members, 15 answered the questionnaire. The questionnaire included three different sections, namely: reflection on each member association accomplishments in 2011; outlook of the upcoming year; how VSE assist its member organisations and what where the contributions of each member to the VSE. Most of the organisations had the opportunity to widen their scope of action and/or to improve their services to victims and/or witnesses of crime. The accomplishments can be seen below in more detail. SECTION 1 Accomplishments As main achievements, the VSE member organisations highlighted the political influence and the development of new services and instruments for the support of victims of crime. 1. Expansion and improvement of services; As an example of expansion and improvement of services it can be pointed out the extension of the helplines schedules, as well as the increase of support to certain groups of victims (such as those of domestic violence or persons with mental health issues). It can also be highlighted the cooperation of new victim services advocates with the victim support organisation or the certification of the Quality Management System of services.

2 2. Development of new services and instruments; The members mentioned new services such as: support to victims of homicide; creation of a specialized mobile unit for victims of trafficking in human beings and gender violence; the creation of new instruments to prevent cross border victimization; the opening of new victim support schemes; a pilot scheme for women victims of domestic violence at family courts; new proceeding for support to child abuse situations and a screening instrument to help victim support workers assess the needs of victims. 3. New ways to contact victims; The new ways to contact victims mentioned were the launching of Facebook and Twitter pages and an e-support website. 4. Training and awareness campaigns; The VSE Member who filled their Annual Reports essentially mentioned that: a first national advertising campaign was launched; a PR campaign is being prepared to be launched in 2012; a new training programme was organised for a new group of victim support workers; training courses and raising awareness campaigns on tourist victims were promoted. 5. Political influence; According to the member victim support organisations answers, this revealed to be an important part of their daily work. Members mentioned several improvements that prove this statement, such as: the organisation working closely with the commissioners to call for more rights to victims and witnesses; the cooperation with the Ministries of Justice on legal proposals for new laws for the promotion of rights and protection of crime victims; cooperation agreements with other Ministries, such as the Ministry of Interior Affairs; creation of Manifestos for Parliamentary election and meetings with several political parties and/or politicians and the promotion of seminar-debates. contribute to the development of legislative measures Many member organisations have been able to contribute to the development of legislative measure mostly by: submitting legislative proposals, manifestos, bills and papers to strengthen the rights of victims of crime and highlight the priorities for change and improvements; promoting and participating in meetings with politicians and political parties as part of expert groups working with legal proposals. statements and hearings Numerous VSE member organisations were able/asked to be part of several statements and hearings with members of their national Parliaments. They have also been part of the preparation of draft legislative provisions in criminal and social law and on the preventive sequestration of the offender s property to secure the payment of damages to victims. Statements were also presented on the European Commission Directive, as well as a petition to strop trafficking in human beings of children.

3 6. Partnership with the criminal justice system; Regarding partnerships with the criminal justice system the members highlighted: establishment of partnership with the armed forces; cooperation contracts with the Police and protocols with the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences. 7. Overcome financial restrains. The financial restrains were also a concern to the VSE member organisations. Organisations pointed out general budget reductions and even the serious threat of having to close victim support schemes. VSE member organisations counted with the collaboration of approximately 2,364 staff members. SECTION 2 Outlook Number of victims supported by VSE member organisations Member organisations of VSE provided support to an estimated number of 1,052,768 victims and witnesses of crime. Volunteering and staff in VSE member organisations An estimated number of 14,485 volunteers collaborated with VSE member organisations in European-funded project(s) developed by VSE member organisations Projects are grand opportunities not only to work and establish contacts with fellow organisations across Europe but also to exchange knowledge and best practices in the field of victim support: National Association of Victim Assistance to persons offense Subvenia Victim: Received European Social Funds Victim Support Scotland: CABVIS CARONTE LEAD Latvia Project Rikosuhripaivystys Suomessa: Project Against Discrimination (in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior) Slachtofferhulp Nederland: Advisor in the project Victims and

4 Restorative Justice an Empirical Study of Needs, Experiences and Position of Victims within Restorative Justice Practices Cooperation with project CABVIS Portuguese Association for Victim Support: CABVIS LEAD CARONTE Info Victims PAX May I Help You? Key projects/goals for the upcoming year(s) The VSE member organisations considered that the key projects/goals for the upcoming year(s) are: to improve and expand services provided to victims and to influence policies and legislations. to improve and expand services provided to victims; One of the key projects/goals mentioned by several members was the strengthening and improvement of the quality of services provided to victims of crime. Keeping this goal in mind, different strategies were design, such as: extend operating hours and professionalize victim support schemes; improve accessibility to services; look for the possibility of a 24/7 helpline; harmonize accounting systems and databases; open new shelters to women and children victims of domestic violence; implement a mobile support unit; reorganize the helpline in order to implement the support line and to define and implement specific professional networks to certain crimes/victims. to implement or improve referral systems; Many of the VSE member organisations have already established referral systems with the police forces. Therefore, for the upcoming years, the main aim is to improve those systems and, for instance, confirm automatic data transfer referrals across their country or to have 100% referral of all victims from the police to the victim support organisation. to participate in international projects; The partnership with other victim support organisations was also highlighted by the members, mainly through their aim of continuing to develop (co-financed) international projects in cooperation with international partners. to influence policies and legislations; The emphasis on the ability to influence policies and legislations was also one of the most highlighted goals for the

5 upcoming years. Members often mentioned their willingness to influence/lobby national and European policy development. The active lobby on the implementation of the New Directive on national laws was also one of the focal points. to promote raising awareness campaigns; The VSE members are also willing to promote and develop raising awareness campaigns, both on their services and on specific issues concerning victimisation (e.g. sexual exploitation of children). to obtain more funding for the organisations in order to provide better services. More funding was also referred as an important aspect to better develop the member organisations and the quality of services provided to victims. It was also mentioned that funding is needed to overcome financial restrains and even some precarious situations in which some organisations find themselves in. SECTION 3 VSE MEMBERSHIP VSE assistance to its member organisations Member organisations contributions to the VSE The VSE member organisations highlighted the opportunity provided by VSE for member organisations to participate in conferences and expert meetings and to receive information on legislation. They also emphasized that VSE is a valuable network of organisations working together.

6 Member organisations contributed through: cooperation and sharing information with other VSE members; assisting in national and international lobbying; participation in conferences and meetings; assist colleagues in other VSE member organisations; support on the development of common standards for services to victims of crimes across Europe. To sum up, being a VSE member is considered an added value to all organisations. Most of the member organisations highlighted that membership provides a unique opportunity for exchanging best practices and learn from fellow organisations. Accordingly, it is also consensual that being part of VSE gives organisations a stronger voice to guarantee victims rights and needs in all member states, and it allows the development of common standards for services to victims of crime in the European Union. Victim Support Europe c/o The Security Center 235, rue de la Loi box Brussels Phone +32 (0) h.heinrichs@victimsupporteurope.eu Skype hheinrichs2 Web Contact person for the Newsletter Helgard van Hüllen Treasurer h.huellen@t-online.de / Co-funded by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Union