ABSTRACT
Victims of crime play various roles in the criminal justice process. For instance, they report offences to law enforcement agencies, provide evidence, make statements, attend identification parades in police stations, and attend court as a witness. However, in contemporary society, considerable attention has been paid to the defendant. Those persons at the receiving end of the crime (notably the crime victims) have not been given corresponding equal attention. Quite often, both the rights and interest of crime victims are neglected. In the criminal sciences literature, crime victims are rightfully called ‘forgotten persons’ (United Nations 1999a: 1; see also United Nations 1999b).
