A fundamental right of victims of crime is the right to respectful treatment. Those who have just experienced a traumatising event may be in distress, so it is important that anyone dealing with a victim remains calm, patient, respectful, and makes the individual feel welcome and safe. Some groups of victims, such as children or victims of sexual violence or terrorism, will need special attention and support. You can make the victim feel more comfortable by treating them with respect:
- Recognise the person as a victim. It is important to legitimise the experience of the individual, who came forward to report a crime and provide them with recognition of that experience.
- Use non-judgmental language. Non-judgemental communication starts by accepting that we impose stereotypes to certain behaviours, groups of people and certain situations. We can then acknowledge that non-judgmental communication is not a ‘gift’ or ‘characteristic’, but a skill we can be trained to use, a way of communication to be conscientiously adapted when speaking to victims of crime.
- Always stay professional. Victims may experience a whole host of emotions and display a variety of behaviours in reaction to a crime; anger, confusion, dissociation, memory loss, etc. From the outside, this behaviour can appear to be inappropriate, rude and even aggressive. However, these are all common psychological reactions to being a victim of crime and coping with trauma.
To truly treat victims respectfully, we must be familiar with the common characteristics and needs of victims of crime and their realities, and with the specific needs of certain types of victim. This awareness is part of a broader strategy called the victim-centred approach, which can be achieved through appropriate training for police officers, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice system professionals.
The victim-centred approach is defined as the systematic focus on the needs and concerns of a victim to ensure the compassionate and sensitive delivery of services in a non-judgmental manner. In a victim-centred approach, the victim’s wishes, safety, and well-being take priority in all matters and procedures.
PROTASIS is an EU project dedicated to strengthening the skills of law enforcement professionals in the successful and respectful interaction with victims of crime. The main objective of PROTASIS is to contribute to the development of a victim-friendly environment during a victim’s contact with the police, by ensuring respectful and sensitive treatment through the improvement and strengthening of police officers’ communication skills and knowledge on victim interaction.
A manual entitled “Towards a victim-centred police response” was produced as a result of the PROTASIS project. A training program, and its material, were trialled in Italy, Portugal, and Greece, with more than 200 police officers completing 20 hours of training seminars and workshops. On completion of the pilot study, an evaluation and impact assessment was conducted by the IARS International Institute, an independent external organisation. The scientific evaluation of the training program reviewed its impact on the everyday working life of the police officers. The findings and conclusions further enhanced the training program and its material.
There are numerous training activities focused on specific groups of victims. For instance, ILGA-Europe, an advocacy group promoting LGBT+ rights, has created a toolkit for training police officers on tackling LGBTI-phobic hate crime.
Similarly, a training manual on a professional police response to hate crime against LGBTI persons has been published the Council of Europe. This manual is designed for police trainers, investigators, managers, hate crime officers and frontline police officers working in countries across the Council of Europe region to develop essential skills to identify and investigate hate crimes against LGBTI persons.