Last week saw the European Parliament and Council agree on the most significant reform of EU victim-protection legislation in over a decade.
A political agreement was reached on the revised Victims’ Rights Directive, which delivers a series of major improvements championed by Renew Europe. From strengthening victims’ rights, to access to justice and protection across the EU.
The key improvements Renew Europe managed to secure include:
- Stronger access to justice, with clearer procedural rights
- Enhanced protection during court proceedings
- Improved data privacy and confidentiality for victims
- Safe reporting channels in closed institutions, such as care homes, hospitals and detention facilities
- Securing a right to review, allowing victims to challenge key decisions
- EU-wide helplines and online reporting systems
- Stronger legal aid provisions
- Securing a right to be heard throughout criminal proceedings
- Free, trauma-informed psychological support for as long as necessary
Throughout the negotiations, Renew Europe pushed to ensure access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for victims of sexual violence, including where abortion care is permitted under national law.
While the Council refused to include abortion in the binding articles, Renew Europe succeeded in retaining a reference to it in the recitals.
Lucia Yar MEP (Progresívne Slovensko, SK) commented on the progress:
“This Directive delivers meaningful progress for victims across the EU. It strengthens their rights, improves protection during proceedings and helps close long-standing gaps in access to support. We worked to ensure that reproductive healthcare, including abortion care, remains recognised in the text, because it is a critical part of the care victims of sexual violence may need. Even if the reference appears only in the recitals, it still matters because this is the first Victims’ Rights Directive to explicitly mention reproductive healthcare, and that acknowledgement sets an important precedent.”