Knowledge Database – March 2021 Update

This is a monthly update from our Knowledge Database editor Sasha Boychenko. If you would like to submit publications to the Database, please reach out at vse@victimsupporteurope.eu

On March 11th, we commemorated the 17th European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism. The European Day of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism was established after the Madrid Bombings in 2004. In continuation of awareness-raising efforts and shifting the focus towards a more victim-centred approach, this month’s additions to the Knowledge Database are composed of various publications on the needs and rights of victims of terrorism and how to best ensure they are adequately addressed. Furthermore, reports on human trafficking and sexual violence victims were also added to the Database. Let us now take a closer look at some of these insightful publications.

The EU Handbook on Victims of Terrorism, co-authored by Victim Support Europe, is aimed at policy makers and support service managers working in governments, NGOs, first responder organisations and second-line support providers at the national, regional and local level. This Handbook aims to assist in the practical implementation of existing EU legislation, based on lessons learned from responses to previous terrorist attacks. Specifically, the Handbook lists various good practices on how specific rights can be successfully implemented and applied in line with the specific needs of victims of terrorism.

Another important publication providing practical information on existing good practices with regard to victims of terrorism is Good Practices in Supporting Victims of Terrorism within the Criminal Justice Framework by UNODC. This publication aims to assist and provide practical guidance to policymakers, criminal justice officers and practitioners from Member States in developing and implementing rule of law-based, criminal justice responses to support victims of terrorism within their national legal and criminal justice frameworks. It is hoped that it will contribute to an enhanced understanding of the issues associated with this important field and the development of identifiable international standards and norms.

As mentioned earlier, adopting a victim-centred approach is crucial for meeting the needs of victims of terrorism. In his article Strengthening the Role of Victims and Incorporating Victims in Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism and Terrorism, Dr. Alex P. Schmid from the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in the Hague explores the role and the agency of victims of terrorism not only immediately following an attack, but through time.

The paper looks at various definitions of what it means to be a ‘victim’ and also traces the various initiatives aimed at supporting victims over the last two decades. In many cases, the paper finds, such initiatives have been weak. Victims of terrorism are often one of the best positioned actors to counter violent extremism and their role in this respect is also analysed. While the importance of victims is slowly being recognised, this paper concludes that there is still a lot more work to be done. The Paper ends with several recommendations which could enhance and improve the position of victims and their role in countering violent extremism.

To conclude the overview of terrorism-related publications, we would like to draw your attention to an article titled “Memorializing the Victims of Terrorism“. This report presents a review of the international academic literature that has been produced regarding the memorialization of victims of terrorism and terrorist-type events. The literature shows that there are many practical and conceptual challenges involved in the memorialization processes. Some of these
challenges include the meanings associated with memorials, the presence of multiple stakeholders in the memorialization process, and the location and maintenance of memorials.

In addition to terrorism-themed publications, we also included publications on human trafficking to our Knowledge Database in the past month. Most notably, you can now read the latest Global report on Trafficking in Persons from 2020. It is the fifth global report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), mandated by
the General Assembly through the 2010 Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The report draws on data from 148 countries and explores issues of particular relevance in the current crisis, including the impact of socio-economic factors, drivers of child trafficking and trafficking for forced labour, and traffickers’ use of the internet.

Finally, we would like to invite you to read a thought-provoking report from Victim Support NI with a preface by the Vice President of Victim Support Europe Geraldine Hanna titled “Bearing Witness: Report Of The Northern Ireland Court Observer Panel 2018-2019“. The report analyses observations of twenty-seven sexual violence trials in the courts of Northern Ireland. Victim Support NI recruited via the press and online platforms for members of the public to volunteer to take part in a research project observing sexual violence trials. Individuals had to have no prior knowledge of the criminal justice system either as workers or volunteers to help us ensure that their observations were untainted by previous work experience of the system. In Geraldine Hanna’s own words,

“The observations contained within provide a perspective of the criminal justice system that is rarely heard, from ordinary members of the public unblinkered by familiarity with the system and its idiosyncrasies. We hope those who work within the system, and those responsible for reforming it, embrace this fresh perspective and use it to see not only the criminal justice system’s problems, but also solutions, with fresh eyes.”

We hope you have enjoyed this overview as well as the new additions to the Knowledge Database. If you would like to have your organisation’s publication featured in the next article, please write to us at vse@victimsupporteurope.eu

List of featured publications:

• EU Handbook on Victims of Terrorism
• Good Practices in Supporting Victims of Terrorism within the Criminal Justice Framework
• Strengthening the Role of Victims and Incorporating Victims in Efforts to Counter Violent Extremism and Terrorism
• Memorializing the Victims of Terrorism
• Global report on Trafficking in Persons
• Bearing Witness: Report Of The Northern Ireland Court Observer Panel 2018-2019