The ‘One Voice One Cause’ campaign is a 2020 information campaign that kicked off on 22 February, the European Day for Victims of Crime, and runs until 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

It is used as an organising strategy by individuals and organisations around the EU to call for the advancement of victims rights and gradual evolution to a healthier and safer community that benefits each of us.

The campaign supporters call for EU and national actions to increase awareness of victims’ rights, galvanise advocacy efforts, and share knowledge and innovations to close the existing gaps.

It’s everyone’s business!

• Crime is often not committed by strangers.
• In about half the rapes in the world, the rapist knew the victim.
• In more than half the murders, the murderer and victim knew each other.
• Assaults are more likely between people who know each other than between strangers.
• Domestic violence wrenches apart millions of families each year.
• Child abuse, overwhelmingly involving someone close to the child, hurts more than a million children a year.
• Only robberies more commonly involve strangers than acquaintances.

Why go beyond protecting yourself and your family?

Because crime and violence penetrates schools, workplaces, and public spaces.
It takes the life out of communities everywhere.

What you can do?

No one needs to confront all these aspects of crime and violence at once.
The point is, there’s something everyone can do.

The ‘One Voice One Cause’ campaign is for the victims who survived, for the activists who live for change, this campaign is for the old and for the young, for people of colour, people without documents, people of all professions and walks of life, all people.

We write, speak, organise, negotiate, plan and act to grow together to a healthier society of people who care!

Share with us something passionate and constructive: an achievement, a dream, a confession or a revelation, a story to learn from, a grievance or an inspiring act of care and support!

With the #OneVoiceOneCause campaign we aim to:

Phase 1: ‘Action Week – in Support of Victims of Crime’ | 17 February 2020 – 22 February 2020

1. Encourage victims to reach out the support services.
2. Inform the audience about the findings of our currently completed ‘Project Vociare: Victims of Crime Implementation Analysis of Rights in Europe’ in order to continue our practical work on the implementation of the EU Victims’ Directive in every Member State.
3. Mobilise people to speak up and take action for victims’ rights, as well as show solidarity and support for the victims of crime.

Phase 2: Action Months following the publication of the first EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights | July – November 2020

The second phase of the campaign aims at explaining how to make the proposed EU Strategy measures work in practice and be effective in order to support the development of victim support services in the EU.

Key messages:

• Victims rights are relevant for all of us, every day

Every year, an estimated 15% of Europeans or 75 million people in the European Union fall victim to crime. More and more people are travelling, living or studying abroad in another EU country and can become potential victims of crime.

If you have fallen victim to crime, you are entitled to certain rights and services in the aftermath of crime, both in the criminal justice system and wider society. In 2015 VSE produced a video on victim support and victims’ rights, explaining in a simple way victims’ rights and services. You can watch it here.

• The Victims’ Rights Directive empowers us all

In 2012, the EU Victims’ Rights Directive was adopted to ensure that victims across European borders enjoy their rights and have equal access to free national support services.

Member States were required to transpose the Victims’ Directive into their national context and practically implement it to allow victims to exercise rights enshrined in it until 16 November 2015. However, till now, Member States did not fully establish the adequate procedures and mechanisms for putting the Directive into practice.

The findings of our VOCIARE project can stand as a basis for a careful rethinking, at national and EU-level, of how are victims’ rights being enacted (or not) and what can be done to improve their standing.

• We need to know where to get victim support which is provided to all victims of crime in the EU free of charge

Everyone in the EU has a right to free victim support services.  Every member state has to establish the national victim support service. Every EU citizen has to know about the existence of victim support in their respective state.

All victims in the EU are entitled to support and assistance in the aftermath of crime, regardless of whether or not the crime is reported to the police. Victim Support Europe advances the development of victim support services that are:

• free of charge
• confidential
• victim-centred
• independent
• accessible throughout Europe
• tailored to meet the individual needs of the victim
• delivered by trained and qualified staff/volunteers

Find your victim support service on Interactive map.