Background to the development of a European Victimisation Survey 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

EU Action Plan 2006-2010 Point 4.3 Establishment and implementation of a regular data collection for common indicators Establish a methodology for a common survey module on victimisation Translate and test a common survey module on victimisation Implement a common survey module on victimisation 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

UNODC/UNECE database UNECE/UNODC task force beginning 2006 includes several EU Member States (Italy, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom) Questionnaire sent to UN Member States resulted in database of victimisation surveys Access to this database was given by UNODC/UNECE to Eurostat Database continues to be maintained by UNECE/UNODC 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

The latest version is available to this group on CIRCA website UNODC/UNECE manual A draft was submitted to Bureau of Conference of European Statisticians, February 2009 The latest version is available to this group on CIRCA website The text should be finalised by the Conference of European Statisticians in June 2009 Publication is planned for later in 2009 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

International Crime Victimisation Survey (ICVS) Has been conducted in 1989, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 Mostly telephone interviewing, samples typically about 2000 per country 5th wave received EU funding (EU-ICS) under DG Research 6th Framework Programme 6th wave with revised questionnaire (ICVS2) being conducted with EU funding in 2009 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Study by European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI) Starting point was UNODC/UNECE database Additional information gathered by HEUNI through bilateral contacts with Member States Consultation with DG JLS Expert Group April 2007 Subsequent comments received from Expert Group members 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Main principles as agreed through discussions with DG JLS Expert Group Cover the ‘usual’ crime types (such as property crimes and crimes against person) Include also some ‘new’ (non-traditional) crime types as far as these can be included in a household survey (such as consumer fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud, computer security) Touch upon general safety issues (such as feeling safe, availability of security systems, prevalence of weapons) Try to obtain a measure of domestic violence, while taking account of practical difficulties and sensitivity issues 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Some ‘new topics’ included in the questionnaire in response to user requests 'Feeling safe and worries about crime', including fear of going out, fear of physical attack, terrorism, etc (Section B) 'Other victimisation issues', including phishing, identity fraud, computer security (Section E) 'Other safety issues', including fear of becoming a victim, protection measures and possession of weapons (Section F) Specific 'Violence issues' for self-completion, including sexual offences, harassment and domestic violence (Section G) 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Other topics excluded from the questionnaire by Victimisation Task Force June 2007 Various other ‘General safety issues‘ such as seeing/experiencing : street fighting, drug dealing, signs of drug use, drunk/rowdy behaviour, abandoned/burnt cars, vandalism, graffiti, rubbish, intimidation, mendicants, etc (Section F) Further 'Other victimisation issues', such as harassment by email (Section E) Further detail on ‘Being fearful of becoming a victim’ (Section B) ‘Final background information’ including type of residence area, religion, membership of a minority group (former Section G) 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Questionnaire as finalised by Task Force on Victimisation, 28-29 June 2007 A. Respondent and household characteristics B. Feeling safe and worries about crime C. Screening questions D. Victim form E. Other victimisation issues F. Other safety issues G. Violence 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Pilot exercises involving EU victimisation module 17 national organisations currently participating in translating and testing module Partly funded by European Commission (DG JLS Framework Partnerships and Eurostat) Starting dates vary from June 2008 to December 2008, most around September 2008 Three reports due on translating (after three months), approach adopted to testing (after six months), results of testing (after twelve months) Testing in mixed modes (postal, face-to-face, telephone, Internet) 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Tasks of the team of experts from Tilburg and Lausanne universities To report on latest developments in each Member State in crime victimisation To monitor ongoing activities including pilot exercises of EU victimisation survey module To provide final evaluation of pilot exercises To present strategic analysis of future development at EU level for recording victimisation 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Task force on victimisation : mandate Establish a methodology for a survey module on victimisation, taking account of relevant experiences at national and international level, and in particular the work of the UNECE/UNODC task force on victimisation surveys and the study carried out under a Eurostat grant by HEUNI Examine the results of testing the survey module on victimisation in Member States, explore the feasibility of the module and reach conclusions Based on the evaluation of the testing, propose an approach for implementing a survey module on victimisation at European level Report to the Working Group for Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics on each stage of the above activities 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation

Thank you for listening Geoffrey.Thomas@ec.europa.eu 4 June 2009 Task Force on Victimisation