being of citizens.19 In its Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, the United Nations General Assembly stresses that “victims who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights … must be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity” (Article #1). Victims of Crime must be “entitled to access to the mechanisms of justice and to prompt redress, as provided for by national legislation, for the harm that they have suffered” (Article #4). They also must receive “the necessary material, medical, psychological and social assistance through governmental, voluntary, community-based and indigenous means” (Article #14).20
One model that amalgamates both the objective of ‘crime prevention’ as well as ‘assistance and protection of crime victims’ rights’ is the Government of South Africa’s Victim Empowerment Programme [VEP]. VEP practitioners take the standpoint that victims of crime have an inherent potential to cope with trauma and the impacts of victimization; and that governments must guarantee the structures and assistance necessary to enable crime victims to take responsibility for their own recovery, and for reclaiming their rights for compensation and restoration. By doing so, VEP seeks to reduce the cyclical nature of violence and crime; it prevents repeat victimization; it advocates for justice processes that centre on the victim rather than the offender; and it holds offenders morally accountable.21