Victimization can have a great impact and varied effects on victims who, at the same time, face the reaction of the social environment.The examination of the practical implementation of the Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime on Member State level reveals that the most significant challenge remains the obligation to safeguard that all victims have access to victim support based on their specific needs.Police officers are most often the first point of contact that a victim has with the authorities.In this context, police staff is expected to demonstrate certain skills when interacting with victims, especially those with special needs due to personal or situational characteristics, such as victims of gender-based violence and child victims.

Project objective

The main objective of the PROTASISproject is to contribute to the development of a victim-friendly environment during the victims’ contact with the police, by ensuring that victims are treated in a respectful and sensitive manner through the improvement and strengthening of police officers’ communication skills and knowledge on how to interact with victims.

Furthermore, the project aims to produce scientific and practical results which will contribute to efficient implementation and practical application of the Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (Victims’ Directive), and further facilitate the implementation of Protection Measures on national and European level (i.e. Regulation (EU) 606/2013on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters, Directive 2011/99/EU on the European Protection Order).

Specifically, the project’s objectives are:

  • Share best practices and create a victim-friendly, gender and child sensitive environment during victims’ contact with the police, aiming to enhance victim’s rights and facilitate their access to justice, while minimizing the risks of secondary victimization and increasing victims’ satisfaction.
  • Develop, pilot and implement in training material and programmes for police officers in Greece, Italy and Portugal, aiming to improve and strengthen their communication skills and knowledge on how to interact with and treat victims with special needs, especially related to gender- and child-specific issues.
  • Develop an information sharing framework through signposting, strengthening cross-sector and multi-agency cooperation in order to meet victims’ needs more effectively.

Overall, PROTASIS will contribute to:

  • the effective, sufficient and sustainable implementation of the Victims’ Directive
  • the improvement of police officers’ theoretical and practical knowledge regarding victims’ needs and psychology of victims, and empower their skills to evaluate victims’ needs
  • the development of integrated training modules which reinforce the capacity building for professionals in order to better meet the specific needs of vulnerable victims and sufficiently protect them
  • the promotion of coherent referral systems which include signposting victims to specialist support services.
  • the increase cross-sector and multi-agency cooperation through signposting of relevant services
  • raising awareness among EU member states and practitioners, regarding the challenges and good practices for an effective and sustainable implementation of the Victims’ Directive and the role of the Police.

PROTASIS is funded under the EC Grant Agreement JUST/2015/RDAP/AG/VICT/9318