Seventy-five million Europeans are victims of serious crime every year. One in three women has suffered physical or sexual violence and 78 percent of victims of intimate partner violence are women. Yet only 14 percent of them report the most serious episodes. An alarming picture that shows the need for more incisive, more accessible and victim-focused protection measures.
This is why the European Union has decided to update the 2012 directive on the rights of crime victims. The new rules, definitively approved by the Strasbourg Parliament (440 votes in favour, 49 against and 84 abstentions), introduce a single telephone number at continental level for victim assistance, extend the possibility of reporting crimes also online and for those in detention facilities, strengthen the right to free legal aid and guarantee quicker access to compensation.
The new legislative text also includes specific measures for minors and for victims of sexual violence, as well as access to health services which include, where permitted by national legislation, emergency contraception and termination of pregnancy.
“We have transformed an outdated regulatory framework into modern legislation that strengthens victims’ rights, improves protection and closes fundamental gaps in access to support. At a time when some Member States are weakening protections and changing laws to favor perpetrators, the European Parliament stands firmly with victims”, said the co-rapporteur for the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, Lucia YarSlovakian liberal.
The old painting
The old directive from 2012 only imposed obligations on Member States regarding information, assistance and participation in criminal proceedings. However, an evaluation conducted by the European Commission and published in 2022 highlighted that the directive had significant shortcomings: many victims were not aware of their rights, struggled to access support services, and in numerous cases were unable to obtain the compensation they were entitled to. The rate of under-reporting of crimes remained worrying: according to a survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), two-thirds of crimes go unreported. On this basis, the Commission presented a revision proposal in July 2023, on which Parliament and the Council reached an informal agreement in December.
The unique number
One of the most visible innovations is the establishment of telephone assistance lines for victims reachable through the harmonized number 116 006, valid throughout the European Union. The number already existed as a reserve, but the new directive makes it mandatory and structured. The lines will have to provide information on rights, emotional support and orientation towards the relevant services. They must be free, confidential, also accessible online and via digital applications, and operational at appropriate times, managed by trained staff.
The services must be offered in the official language or languages of the Member State and States are encouraged to guarantee them at least in another “widely understood” language, which can be a language of a minority present in the country or a widespread international language, such as English. For digital channels, automatic translation technologies may be used. There is also a separate number for international calls, for the benefit of victims who have suffered a crime in an EU country other than their country of residence, but these calls do not necessarily have to be free.
Report a crime
The new rules concretely expand the reporting possibilities. Alongside traditional face-to-face methods, the possibility of reporting a crime online must be guaranteed, at least for non-urgent and non-violent cases, including the presentation of digital evidence. The agreement clarifies that violence includes both physical and psychological violence, and that the competent authority will have to assess on a case-by-case basis whether online reporting is appropriate or risks compromising the investigation.
Particular attention is paid to people deprived of personal liberty: the directive explicitly includes prisons, detention centres, facilities for illegally staying foreigners, nursing homes, orphanages and rest homes. In these contexts, victims must be able to report effectively. Reporting through third parties is also foreseen: civil society organizations that collect reports can report them to the competent authorities, with the consent of the victim where possible, encouraging the emergence of crimes otherwise destined to remain in the shadows.
Individual support
Much emphasis is placed on strengthening the individual assessment of each victim’s needs. From the first contact with the authorities, qualified personnel must initiate an assessment that takes into account personal characteristics, the type of crime, the relationship with the perpetrator of the crime and the risks of secondary victimization. The assessment is designed as a dynamic process, to be updated as the situation evolves.
For victims of sexual violence, the new directive provides timely access to health services which, where national law allows, include emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylaxis, testing for sexually transmitted infections and access to abortion.
The president of the commission for women’s rights, the Spanish socialist Lina Gálvez spoke of a “historic agreement, which also guarantees victims of sexual violence access to information and sexual and reproductive health care, including care for termination of pregnancy in accordance with national legislation”. “Women who are victims of rape are at risk of becoming pregnant, which does not happen to men. It would be clear discrimination not to consider the possibility for women to be able to make this decision in such extreme circumstances. This is an important precedent,” she added.
Minors, compensation and legal aid
For minor victims of crime, the directive introduces a system of integrated and coordinated services which should be brought together, where possible, in a single place: medical examination, psychological support, possibility of reporting, individual assessment of needs and video recording of testimonies. This concentration of services aims to reduce the need for subsequent interviews and the number of times a child must relive the trauma by telling different operators about what happened. “With this reform we are taking an important step to ensure greater protection, support and rights for all victims, including cases of violation in the digital environment and those involving particularly vulnerable victims, such as minor victims of online sexual abuse,” said the co-rapporteur for the Civil Liberties Committee, the popular Spanish Javier Zarzalejos.
As regards compensation, the directive deals with victims of intentional violent crimes who have not received payment within a reasonable time: in that case, member states “may advance the compensation awarded”, then recovering it from the convicted person. This is not an obligation, but a faculty expressly provided for by the text. At the same time, the right to free legal aid is extended to victims who participate in criminal proceedings as parties and who do not have sufficient means: some categories, such as minors and people with disabilities, will be entitled to it automatically, without having to pass further checks.
