The level and quality of information that victims receive vary from one Member State to another. In some states, there are some good examples of how best to raise awareness of the victims themselves, their support circles, and the public in general, and how to deliver information in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Directive. In some others, information for victims is scarce or when it exists, it is not accessible to victims either because victims’ specific needs (children, persons with disabilities etc.) or are simply not well disseminated (web sites that are hard to find through a web search, insufficient quantity of printed materials etc.).
In order to make services available and accessible for victims of crime, VSE has been advocating for the development of research-based information campaigns. This would include websites, leaflets, explainer videos and other materials which should be developed and placed in areas where victims are likely to be present as a result of crime – regardless of whether they have reported it.
Objectives
In view of such reality the present project proposal aims to: (1) describe, based on research best practices in delivering information to victims; (2) identify what type of information is most pressing to be made available to victims in each participating country and develop innovative and creative information tools based on the research and target group consultations; (3) deliver an information campaign; and (4) measure its impact.
Project Partners
The partnership was carefully construed to optimise the work on the project and project results and impact. Victim Support Europe is the leading European umbrella organisation of victim support. Since its creation, almost 30 years ago, VSE has been the leader the development of victim-centred policies and has been a valued stakeholder during the negotiations and drafting of the Victims’ Rights Directive.
Transcendent Media Capital (TMC) is the European branch of an international media company, dedicated to creating sustainable and measurable impact through media, with whom VSE has already cooperated on a number of campaigns and with whom we have recently produced an award-winning short film on the Right to be forgotten. TMC are the key partner who will develop impact measurement and campaign tools, as well as support national partners in the delivery of the campaign and impact measurement. Five remaining partners – Human Rights in Democracy Centre (AL), PZS (HR), Fehér Gyűrű (HU), Victim Support Malta (MT) and APAV (PT) are long-standing VSE members, while VILIAS (LT) is on the path of becoming one, having been VSE’s reliable partner in the past several years.
The project partnership gives a good representation of countries in which victim support has a long tradition (PT and HU), countries in which generic victim support is recent (HR and MT) as well as countries in which generic nation- wide victim support is yet to be established (AL and LT). Moreover, with a representation of ‘old’ Member States (PT and MT), ‘new’ Member States (HR, HU and LT) and an aspiring Member State (AL), we believe we achieved a balance in representing different points of view and different traditions in the implementation of EU legislation.
The project directly responds to the Priority 2 of the call: Victims’ Rights. In particular, the project is aimed at better implementation of Article 4 of the Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (the Victims’ Rights Directive).
This priority will be addressed through providing tailored information to the estimated more than 4,5 million of victims of crimes in the six project countries (AL, HR, HU, LT, MT and PT) in an informed and inclusive manner. This will be ensured through a carefully designed methodology, which will ensure:
– responding to the actual information needs of victims in each of the project countries, which will be identified through research;
– delivering information to victims, law enforcement and victim support professionals, through tailored, inclusive and accessible tools, the content of which will be carefully developed by victim support professionals in each of the six countries;
– delivering the information by means of high quality information tools (videos, posters, infographics, brochures, websites, interactive maps) tools carefully designed and delivered by media professionals;
– launching a carefully designed media campaign, which will aim to reach the maximum number of victims in project countries;
– measuring impact of the campaign, through the innovative impact measurement methodology.
RELEVANCE
How does your project address the call priority under which you are applying? What is the project’s contribution in this area? What are the innovative aspects of the project?
– training project partners in impact measurement;
– continuity of the impact beyond the duration of the project, through further reproduction of information tools and extending impact measurement methodology across the VSE membership. The project will contribute towards:
– victims’ better information about their rights and the support they can claim and receive;
– better understanding of how to provide information to victims in an effective and inclusive manner;
– measuring the impact of information provision on victims of crimes.
The innovative aspects of the project are reflected in:
– development of information tools based on research and not just on a presumption that some forms of delivery are good or convenient;
– information tools and campaigns are developed jointly by the partnership, but are tailored specifically for each country to respond to the existing cultural, geographical, legal or political environment in the country;
– impact measurement methodology is being developed specifically to measure impact of information on victims’ access to and enjoyment of their rights;
– impact is measured through the project to inform about the actual result of the tools and the campaign;
– impact measurement methodology is replicable and will be offered to VSE members through members’ training through our operating activities planning in 2021 or 2022, with view on also developing a training for trainers, to ensure cascade transmission of impact measurement knowledge throughout the broader VSE and our members’ networks.
“Reclaim Your Safety”: the PREVICT campaign
Based on the constructive research and assessment of best practices made in each of the partner countries, the PREVICT information campaign was launched on February 1st 2021 at the national level and on February 22nd 2021 at the EU level, where Victim Support Europe acts as the leader of the campaign.
Conducted with 8 partners across 6 different countries, the campaign focuses on providing information to victims of crime about the existence of their rights and of victim support services. The publicity efforts are focused on promoting the support services of the six partner countries.
Printed materials (billboards, brochures, infographics, posters and stickers) and videos were produced for each partner, in their respective national language. The campaign builds on the faces and voices of victims that we discover through the campaign’s videos and their powerful and emotional stories.
While each partner defined its own goals regarding the expected results of the campaign, similar goals are shared among them, notably:
- Increase the number of victims that contact and report crime to the police;
- Increase the number of calls to their Victim Support services;
- Increase the visibility of their services and awareness around the existence of their service among victims and potential victims.
