Dear Colleague:

In every country around the world, crime occurs, and when it does, victims suffer physical injury, emotional pain, and financial loss. Crime victim compensation programs provide desperately needed financial assistance to help victims pay some of the costs resulting from the crime such as uninsured medical and mental health counseling expenses, lost wages, and funeral expenses. The International Crime Victim Compensation Program Resource Directory (Directory) lists contact information for victim compensation programs located in 29 countries, including the U.S. and the District of Columbia. We hope that you will use the Directory to help link victims with the resources they need and deserve in the aftermath of crime.

Federal law requires U.S. compensation programs to provide benefits to State residents who are injured or killed by a terrorist attack while visiting a foreign country. States are not required, however, to pay benefits when the crime is not a terrorist act. Consequently, most States do not offer victims any compensation for other crimes occurring outside the U.S. It is, therefore, imperative that advocates inform crime victims that some foreign countries have crime victim compensation programs, and that in some cases, victims may be eligible to receive benefits from the country where the crime occurred.

This Directory was first published in 1996 by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) within the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, in order to identify program parameters in other countries and to complement the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards' directory of U.S. compensation programs. OVC collaborated with the U.S. Department of State (State Department) to conduct a survey of U.S. embassies in 174 countries; the embassies then forwarded questionnaires to the appropriate officials in each country. Completed questionnaires were translated by State Department officials and returned to OVC.

For the 1998/1999 edition of the Directory, OVC contacted victim assistance programs throughout the world. OVC surveyed countries asking if they have a crime victim compensation program and, if so, other programmatic details. OVC received a total of 115 responses, 28 of which described existing programs. Those 28 countries and the United States are listed in this Directory. These 29 countries provide financial compensation to victims of crime, and all but 3 offer benefits to foreign citizens. Three countries -- France, Spain, and the United States -- offer compensation benefits to victims of terrorism as well as to victims of other violent crimes. In addition, 7 countries compensate citizens of their own nations who are victimized in other countries. In general, each program has established rules regarding the eligibility requirements, procedures, and compensable costs while allowing for exceptions to these rules in special circumstances.

Copies of the Directory (NCJRS# 173392) are available by contacting the OVC Resource Center (see contact information below). Another resource, the State Department's Overseas Citizens Services, disseminates an array of information about foreign countries, including travel warning advisories, information about incidence of crime and threats of terrorism, instructions on communicating with persons located abroad, and foreign embassy information for every country in the world. The U.S. has established embassies in almost every country in the world, and, in some countries, hosts additional U.S. consular missions. Therefore, a U.S. citizen who becomes a crime victim while abroad should notify the closest U.S. Embassy or consulate for assistance. Other nationals need to contact their own consulates or embassies.

Even as you receive this publication, OVC has begun the lengthy process of updating the Directory. We hope to include e-mail addresses for compensation programs in the next version of the Directory. If you have other suggestions, corrections, or revisions, please complete the "Information Update" form at the end of the Directory.

As always, thank you for your excellent work on behalf of crime victims.

Sincerely,

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