As part of the Protasis Project, the partners from Italy developed a comprehensive catalogue with the available victim support services for victims of crime in the country. The aim of the guideis to contribute to the development of effective signposting and referral pathways for the victims coming in contact with the Police.
The guide includes organizations and services that operate at national and regional level, in the following regions: Lazio; Emilia Romagna; Toscana; Liguria; Friuli Venezia Giulia; Trentino Alto Adige; Marche; Umbria; Basilicata; Abruzzo; Piemonte; Lombardia; Veneto; Campania; Calabria; Puglia; Sicilia; and Sardegna.
In two of the regions, Val d’Aosta and Molise, no adequate services to victims of crimes were identified, and thus, it is suggested to contact the National helpline 1522 or entities available in the nearby regions.
The services provided are divided into the following 14 categories:
- Information services;
- Legal aid, such as legal advice, or representation;
- Emotional support, psychological first aid, professional help, support groups;
- Counselling;
- Shelter/ day-center;
- Social support/ practical help (e.g. compensation claim, restoration, rehousing, etc.);
- Translation or interpretation services;
- Helplines/ Support lines;
- Mediation/ restorative justice services;
- Vocational training/ job placement;
- Child care/ schooling/ creative time;
- Medical aid;
- Financial aid;
- Online support services.
The vast majority of the organizations offering different support services to the victims are private entities, mostly associations or NGOs. In most of the cases, local public entities, such as Municipalities, sign Memorandum of Understanding with private organizations, which provide their services also on behalf of the local authorities covering all the Italian territory.
These private organizations operate mainly on donations and available public funds provided year by year. Owing to the uncertain financial support that they can face, the turnover among those associations and NGOs is rather frequent, and they quite often.
This Signposting and Referral Pathways document was last updated on April 30, 2017, and all the listed entities are active, the addresses and contacts are verified, and the websites are updated and fully working. A number of entities not adequately meeting the needs expressed in this document, or deemed not to be sufficiently reliable and stable, have been excluded by the list. A strict and in-depth selection has been carried out. All the listed entities (even the smaller ones) have a relevant background and proved to be experienced and reliable in their field of activity, providing relevant examples of good practices.
Click here to download the guide. To view the Italian version of the guide, click here.
