From Crime Policy to Victim Policy The Need for a Fundamental Policy change *

Recent years have witnessed great strides in applied victimology. During the 1980s legislation was passed, services were created, programs were set up, all aimed at helping crime victims and improving their unhappy lot. One of the most important developments was the formal approval of the UN declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power by the General Assembly on November 11, 1985 ¹ . In adopting it, the General Assembly of the United Nations stated that it was “Cognizant that millions of people throughout the world suffer harm as a result of crime and the abuse of power and that the rights of these victims have not been adequately recognized” (See Joutsen, 1987, p. 68). All this signals the dawning of the promised golden age of the victim.