This document discusses victim assistance services in the criminal justice system. It covers several key points: 1) Victim assistance services aim to alleviate suffering, facilitate recovery, and encourage victim participation in the justice process. This helps prevent alienation from the system and community. 2) Services include crisis intervention, counseling, advocacy, and support during investigation, trial, and after case disposition. The goal is to help victims deal with trauma and reduce revictimization risk. 3) Police, prosecutors, judges, and prisons all play a role in ensuring victims receive information, updates, and referrals to assistance programs. India has also established guidelines and compensation schemes to better support victims of crimes like sexual assault.

1. VICTIM ASSISTANCE

2. • Assistance to victims prevents their alienation from the
criminal justice system and the Community. Effective
assistance mechanism will help victims to open up
which will help them to provide information about the
crime and criminals.
• Victim assistance services are those which are provided
in response to the victimization with an aim to alleviate
suffering and facilitate quick recovery. The victim
assistance services include and not limited to providing
information, conducting crisis interventions, engaging
in counseling and social advocacy etc.

3. • The victim assistance service serves two ways-
– it restores victims to wholeness in the aftermath of
victimization and
– it provides guidelines for reducing the risk of re-
victimization
The object of victim assistance services is to assist
victims in dealing with emotional trauma,
encourage their participation in the criminal justice
process, receiving reparation and dealing with
problems which emerge out of victimization

4. Crisis intervention
• The victim assistance programme should provide the crisis
intervention. It will help victims to cope up with crisis
immediately after victimization.
• primary concern of crisis intervener must be the physical
safety of the victim.
• Crisis intervention is designed to help victims organize their
thoughts and to reassure them that whatever they feel is
appropriate, that any and all of their reactions are natural
and valid. Victims should be assured that the incident was
condemned by society and that the victimized person is still
a valued member of society

5. Victim Counseling and Advocacy
• Counseling may benefit victims for emotional
reassurance that he is ‘safe’ now. It will help
victims to alleviate their stress. Good
counselling very much depends upon good
advocacy

6. Support during investigation of a crime
• During investigation the victims may be
required to identify the accused or to identify
the bodies or he may be required to visit the
crime scene or may be called for evidentiary
examinations.

7. Support during criminal prosecution and trial
• Victim assistance services should ensure that
victims are extended personal support during
hearings, interviews and trial.
• Efforts are made to minimise the number of
appearances for victims

8. Support after case disposition
• Victim assistance programmes should seek to
provide supportive counselling where the case
reached to appellate level

9. Role of Service provider in ensuring
victim assistance

10. Police and Victim Assistance
• Police are most likely to have the first contact with victims of crime.
Proper attention is to be given to the first point of contact of the
criminal justice system with the victim. This first interaction
between the police and the victim is crucial to how the victim copes
and recovers. Victims should be treated in a more sensitive and
sympathetic manner.
• The police based assistance includes on-site crisis intervention and
providing necessary medical facility. Police should inform victims of
their rights and services which can help them in recovering from
post-crime trauma.

11. The police officer should inform victims about:
- police procedures and investigation process;
- how to protect evidence;
- their rights, as well as the availability of crime
victims compensation;
- financial assistance;
- the status of investigation

12. Prosecutors and victim assistance
• Once the investigation is completed the prosecutor
takes the charge of the case. Though he appears as a
State counsel he should not forget that it is the victim
who is directly harmed by the crime.
• Victims have fair interest in the prosecution of the case
and they should be involved at all stages of the
proceedings.
• The prosecutor-based victim assistance programmes
can prove an effective way to achieve the common goal
i.e. to prevent secondary victimization and to treat
every victim with compassion, dignity and respect.

13. The prosecutor-based victim assistance programmes may
provide services like:
– - guiding about victim’s role in the criminal justice system;
– - notifying victims of the status of the case and the delays
if any that occur in the
– progress of a criminal prosecution;
– - ensuring that victims are provided with proper
assistance in attending and
– participating in court proceedings;
– - providing protection from intimidation and harm;
– - referring to appropriate victim assistance and victim
compensation programmes

14. Role of the judiciary in victim
assistance
• Judges are there to protect the rights and
interests of every party involved in criminal
proceedings. Many a time Judges may
encounter cases with special category of
victims like child victim or women victim. In
such cases the role of a judge becomes very
crucial.

15. Judges can ensure that victims and witnesses are
provided with information
• - regarding their rights and prerogatives;
• - about public and community services;
• - regarding status of their case;
• - about the release of the offender from custody

16. Role of Prisons Authorities in victim assistance
• The concern of victims is not over with the conviction of
the accused person but he wants to be sure that the
accused person will not pose any danger to him or to
anyone in whom he is interested during his stay in prison
and ever after his release.
• In such scenario victim wants to be notified in advance if
the prisoner is to be released.
• The prison authority must keep victim’s information in
prisoner’s file so that he can be contacted in case the
prisoner is released.
• If the prisoner is released on parole or probation, he should
not be allowed to contact the victim.

17. United Nations Declaration of Basic
Principles of Justice for Victims of
Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985:

18. • Victims should receive the necessary material, medical,
psychological and social assistance through governmental,
voluntary, community-based and indigenous means.
• Victims should be informed of the availability of health and
social services and other relevant assistance and be readily
afforded access to them.
• Police, justice, health, social service and other personnel
concerned should receive training to sensitize them to the
needs of victims, and guidelines to ensure proper and
prompt aid.
• In providing services and assistance to victims, attention
should be given to those who have special needs because
of the nature of the harm inflicted or because of factors
such as those mentioned in paragraph 3 above.

19. INDIA
• The Supreme Court in the case of Delhi Domestic
Working Women's Forum v. Union of India has
shown its anguish on how the victims of sexual
assault are treated by the system. They are
humiliated even from the stage of reporting of
crime. They invariably find rape trials a traumatic
experience. The Court proceedings add to their
psychological stress they had suffered at the
hands of the crime itself.

20. The Court noted that following assistance and support services can be provided to
victims of sexual crimes:
 Legal assistance at the police station and during the criminal
proceedings;
 Information regarding the nature of the proceedings; and
 Referral to other services like counselling or medical
assistance

21. The Court issued following parameters for service providers:
• Police officers are under a duty to inform victim of her right to be
represented by a lawyer and mention in the police report that the victim
was informed;
• Police stations should have a list of advocates who are willing to render
their services in case victim does not have any particular lawyer of her
own;
• The identity of rape victim must be concealed during the trial;
• To afford financial assistance to rape victims, a Criminal Injuries
Compensation Board (CICB) may be established; and
• CICB will take into account the pain, suffering and shock as well as loss of
earnings and expenses incurred as a result of the rape while fixing the
amount of compensation

22. • The only provision which refers to victim assistance is
section 357C which was inserted by the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013. It obliges both public and
private health service providers to provide immediate
free first-aid or medical treatment to victims and
survivors of acid attack and sexual offences. Refusal to
provide such medical services amounts to an offence
under section 166B of the India Penal Code

23. • A glimpse of victim assistance may be seen in
the Victim Compensation Scheme prepared by
states. In pursuance of section 357A of the
Code of Criminal Procedure many states
formulated policy and scheme to provide
compensation to crime victims.

24. VICTIM COMPENSATION SCHEME aim to provide – financial assistance to
victims and restorative support service such as shelter, counselling, medical
aid, legal assistance, education and vocational training depending upon the
needs of victim
Under clause 8 of the Scheme the District Legal Services Authority is
required
• (a) To consider the claims and provide financial assistance and support
services, as the case may be in accordance with the procedure prescribed
under the scheme.
• (b) To arrange for psychological, medical and legal assistance to the
affected persons.
• (c) To arrange for counselling support to the affected woman including
counselling of the spouse in case the affected woman is married.
• (d) To arrange shelter for the affected woman for such period as may be
required.

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