European Parliament hosts the event "The Voice of Victims in Europe"

On the 7th of March 2012, APAV participated in the event “The Voice of Victims in Europe – victims of crime express their demands for stronger rights”, promoted by Victim Support Europe, that took place in the European Parliament, in Brussels. This was a unique moment to reinforce the importance of the the proposal for a new Directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, which reinforces the rights of crime victims in Europe and guarantees the establishment of victim support services throughout the Member States.

David McKenna, President of Victim Support Europe, mentioned that Union’s Ministers of justice probably spend more on pens and paper than they do allocate funds to victims protection. The representatives of European legislators (European Commission, Council of Europe’s Presidency and European Parliament) reaffirmed their commitment to the European Commission’s proposal of a new Directive.

The most outstanding moment was the victims’ testimonies. Victims of diverse European Union’s countries talked about what they went through, the challenges they faced, the way victim support organizations helped them and the importance of a de facto implementation of the new Directive. We trust that this initiative will bring about meaningful improvement to the European Union’s political agenda on victims’ rights.