Victims of crime are to be treated with respect, sympathy – and equality – throughout the EU in future, with special care for the most vulnerable. EuroparlTV explains how.

Flashback: EU ensures victims' rights

It made me feel very vulnerable  and frightened.

It's something you think happens  to other people, not to you.

it still affects how I feel  when I go out in the evening.

If I'm walking alone,  I'm always looking over my shoulder

and I get very nervous  if there is anyone walking behind me.

spoken by someone else  to preserve her anonymity.

She was attacked one evening  in this Brussels park,

when a man ran up behind her,  sprayed her eyes with pepper spray,

and snatched her handbag.  She's just one of the 75 million people

who become victims of crime  in the EU each year.

On 18 May 2011 the European  Commission proposed legislation

But the law has its origins  in February 1989

when the Court of Justice ruled  in favour of a British tourist

He had been denied  criminal compensation

because he was neither French  nor a resident.

Since then the EU has been seeking  ways to ensure even-handedness

and it starts by overcoming  the language barrier.

What is most important for me is the right  to understand and to be understood,

If you go to the police and  you don't have the right to a translator,

then you can't express your case, what  your problem is, what has happened.

Crime takes many forms,  all of them frightening and disturbing.

Muggings, robberies,  sex assaults and rape,

hate crime,  and even terrorism and people trafficking.

victims have found it hard  to exercise their rights.

The new legislation demands that victims  are treated with respect and dignity

They and their families  must be informed about their rights

and have access to support services  in a language they understand.

Victims should have the right  to understand, witness

and take part in criminal proceedings  against the perpetrators.

Special care must be exercised with  vulnerable victims, such as children,

victims of sex attacks,  and those with disabilities.

Victims must feel protected during the  investigation of crimes they've suffered

and they must enjoy those same rights  wherever they happen to be in the EU,

something which has not been the case  up to now.

The only option these people have  is to find a lawyer

in the state where the crime or offence  occurred and to contact him.

And all the costs of consulting a lawyer  are charged to the victim,

which reduces the possibility  of the victim being properly defended.

by the gay, lesbian, bisexual  and transgender community,

For the first time  in any international legislation,

hate crimes involving sexual orientation  are made illegal.

Most hate crimes, most violent crimes  committed against LGBTI people

go under-reported  and hence are left in impunity.

And the main reason  is because of lack of trust

in law enforcement  and the justice system.

So legislation like that  is already sending a very positive signal.

For MEPs this new legislation  closes existing gaps in victim protection,

even allowing victims to appeal against  a decision not to prosecute the criminal.

It gives better protection  to vulnerable people,

such as children or victims  of gender-based violence.

And also people who are homosexuals  or LGBTIQ people, etc.

and we're trying, as a Parliament,  to impose a very new kind of approach.

It is the individual assessment  of the needs of the victims.

Member State governments proved  reluctant to guarantee equal treatment

They tried to delay implementation too,  but in the end conceded,

agreeing to the EP's limit of three years.

The legislation received  overwhelming support

at the European Parliament  in Strasbourg on 12 September 2012.

There will always be crime, but if  you are one of the unfortunate victims,

in future you can at least be sure  your rights will be upheld,