Victim Support Europe Publishes 2025 Annual Report: Advancing Victims’ Rights Across Europe

Victim Support Europe (VSE) has published its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting a year of extensive advocacy, collaboration, innovation, and growth across the victims’ rights sector.

In 2025, VSE and its network of members continued working toward one core objective: ensuring that no victim of crime is left behind. Through policy advocacy, projects, partnerships, communications, training, and direct collaboration with institutions and practitioners, VSE strengthened efforts to improve victims’ rights and access to support services across Europe and beyond.

Today, VSE’s network includes 85 organisations across 36 countries, collectively supporting more than 5.4 million victims of crime every year.

A Year Focused on Strategy and Victims’ Rights

One of the major milestones of 2025 was the development of the VSE Strategy 2026–2030. Developed through extensive member consultations, surveys, and board engagement, the strategy outlines seven key objectives designed to strengthen victim-centred justice systems and improve support for victims across Europe.

The strategy focuses on:

• Supporting the implementation and strengthening of victims’ rights laws
• Improving access to high-quality victim support services
• Enhancing cross-sector collaboration
• Amplifying victims’ voices and participation
• Strengthening responses to terrorism and mass victimisation
• Building organisational resilience and influence

Alongside this work, VSE continued to actively engage with European institutions on the revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive (VRD), advocating for stronger rights related to compensation, information, safe justice, and access to support services.

Throughout 2025, VSE submitted ten evidence-based contributions to European Commission consultations, addressing topics such as:

• The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2030
• The EU Anti-Racism Strategy
• The EU Civil Society Strategy
• The Action Plan Against Cyberbullying
• The European Internal Security Strategy
• The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)

These contributions consistently promoted a victim-centred, trauma-informed, and rights-based approach across EU policymaking.

Strengthening Collaboration and International Partnerships

VSE continued to strengthen cooperation with EU institutions, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and civil society organisations worldwide.

In 2025, VSE:

• Participated in UNODC and UN Office of Counter Terrorism initiatives
• Continued cooperation with Victim Support Asia (VSA)
• Played an active role in INVICTM, the international network supporting victims of terrorism and mass violence
• Hosted three EU NGO Roundtable meetings focused on the Victims’ Rights Directive revision
• Organised national stakeholder meetings in Ireland, Italy, and Lithuania to strengthen national victim support systems

VSE also maintained and strengthened its Terrorism Response Network, which has responded to more than 20 terrorist attacks globally since 2015.

Projects Driving Innovation and Change

Throughout 2025, VSE coordinated and contributed to a broad portfolio of European and international projects aimed at improving victim support systems and advancing victims’ rights.

Key projects included:

• BeneVict – examining the benefits of full implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive
• 2Gether4Victims – improving coordinated support for victims of gender-based violence
• DISRUPT – enhancing digital investigations into trafficking of children
• IMPACT and INVICTUS – improving national victim support frameworks across multiple EU Member States
• BRIDGE – strengthening integrated victim support systems in Latvia and Lithuania
• OSPREY – addressing online harms targeting public-facing professionals and democratic resilience
• LITI-GATE – promoting strategic litigation for the rights of persons with disabilities

These initiatives brought together victim support organisations, governments, law enforcement, researchers, and civil society partners to develop practical, evidence-based solutions for victims across Europe.

Communications and Awareness Raising

In 2025, VSE significantly expanded its communications strategy through a stronger focus on emotional storytelling and audience engagement.

The “Year of Victims’ Rights” campaign aimed to mainstream victims’ rights across Europe and support advocacy, fundraising, and awareness raising activities.

The strategy included:

• Multi-channel digital campaigns
• Podcasts and audio-visual storytelling
• Advocacy materials and policy explainers
• Immersive training content for law enforcement
• The DISRUPT interactive graphic novel
• Workshops through the Victims’ Rights Communicators Network (VRComNet)

This approach helped strengthen public engagement and reinforce empathy and understanding around victims’ experiences and rights.

Enhancing Victim Support Services

VSE also continued investing in training, capacity building, and the improvement of victim support standards.

Key activities included:

• Staff and practitioner trainings on leadership, victim communication, cyber security, GDPR, trafficking, and violence against women
• Continued development of the 116 006 victim support helpline standards
• Launch of the campaign “116006 Helpline: One Number. One Standard. Equal Support for Every Victim”
• Centre of Excellence meetings and knowledge exchanges
• Staff exchange programmes and thematic working groups

These initiatives supported the professional development of practitioners and strengthened cooperation across the victim support sector.

Welcoming New Members

In 2025, VSE further expanded its membership network with the addition of four new organisations:

• Center of Women’s Rights (CWR), Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Memoria e Verità per le vittime del terrorismo, Italy
• Prosecutor General’s Office, Ukraine
• Union of Women Associations of Heraklion, Greece

With these additions, VSE’s network now consists of 85 organisations across 36 countries, reflecting continued growth and collaboration throughout the victims’ rights community.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 Annual Report reflects not only the scale of VSE’s activities, but also the collective commitment of its members, partners, institutions, and practitioners to building stronger, more compassionate, and victim-centred societies.

As VSE moves into the implementation of its 2026–2030 Strategy, the organisation remains committed to ensuring that victims’ rights are not only recognised in law, but realised in practice.

Read the full Annual Report below