This year, to mark the European Day for Victims of Crime, celebrated every 22 February, we stress that victims’ rights must be more than commitments on paper. The legal frameworks to safeguard victims’ rights, including the right to information, protection, support, and access to justice, already exist. At international, European, and national levels, compensation is recognised as a key component of effective remedy. Yet in practice, most victims of abuse, exploitation and human trafficking continue to face significant barriers to protection, support, and meaningful access to justice and compensation.
Compensation: A Right Rarely Realised
Evidence from La Strada International’s earlier initiatives, research, casework, and assessments demonstrates that compensation payments remain extremely rare in practice, despite the existence of international, European, and national legal frameworks.
Persistent obstacles remain, including:
- Limited awareness among law enforcement and judicial authorities regarding victims’ right to compensation;
- Insufficient access to specialised legal aid and clear, accessible information for victims;
- The postponement of trials and lengthy criminal and civil proceedings;
- The return or deportation of foreign victims before verdicts are delivered;
- Practical barriers to enforcing compensation orders, even in cases where courts rule in favour of victims.
Even when compensation is awarded, trafficked persons rarely have the financial resources, legal assistance, or time needed to enforce court decisions, particularly when perpetrators conceal assets or declare insolvency.
Securing remedies is not only a matter of financial redress. Compensation contributes to restoring economic stability, strengthening autonomy, and reducing vulnerability to re-exploitation. It recognises the harm suffered and affirms that exploitation has consequences. Without effective access to compensation, victims may remain trapped in precarity, debt, or unsafe working conditions, increasing the risk of further exploitation.
A Call for Action
On the European Day for Victims of Crime, we call on EU institutions and Member States to:
- Ensure effective implementation of existing victims’ rights frameworks;
- Guarantee comprehensive support to victims and access to both general and specialist services;
- Strengthen access to justice and protection of victims, including safe reporting mechanisms through the establishment of strict firewalls between immigration and other authorities to ensure victims are not deterred from reporting violence due to their residency status;
- Guarantee access to specialised and free legal assistance from the earliest stages;
- Guarantee adequate and tailored support for child victims;
- Ensure that victims can remain in the country until the conclusion of legal proceedings;
- Strengthen mechanisms to enforce compensation orders, where an offender does not have money to pay compensation, the state should provide compensation;
- Improve coordination between criminal, civil, labour, and state compensation systems;
- Collect and publish data on compensation claims, awards, and enforcement to identify gaps and improve accountability.