When the victims of injustice lose faith in their justice system, the crime they've endured cuts only deeper, adding insult to injury. The time has come to face the truth that most victims of crime will not have their needs met and often won't experience our systems of justice as just. This short book makes its readers experts in advocating rights for victims of crime. It empowers taxpayers, voters and (potential) victims of crime to make the case to rebalance justice and support victims. Written for the millions of victims of crime and their friends and families, it helps to transform an antiquated system of criminal and civil justice into a modern system that is just and fair, shifting from neglect to respect and support. While some laws in the USA and elsewhere do support victims by providing assistance, compensation, and protection from the accused, this book also sheds a harsh light upon their inadequate implementation. Police services must catch crooks but make victims their client. Courts must balance rights for defendants and victims. Services for women, children and elderly victims must be adequately funded. Restitution from offenders must be ordered and collected, not overlooked. Fair compensation from the state must change from a secret to a given. The prevention of victimization must be the budget priority not mass incarceration. Despite the speeches and the United Nations norms, governments still leave most victims of crime without basic information, support, and assistance, let alone respect and remedies in courts. If you are not yet one of those victims of crime, social responsibility requires you to ensure that your country's systems of justice are fair to those who are and for them, this book provides an answer.

Irvin Waller, PhD, is emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. He has a long history of being consulted on crime policy and victim rights by political leaders on every continent and by international organizations, including the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank. His passion and knowledge have made him a featured speaker and media resource around the world in English, French and Spanish. Waller first addressed crime prevention and rights for crime victims in Burglary: The Victim and the Public (1978). This influenced his work as a senior official for the Canadian government where he was in charge of presenting research that led to the abolition of the death penalty, the control of firearms and first policies for victims of crime. It brought him into the small network of pioneers of the US and international movement to protect rights for victims of crime. His trail blazing work to get the UN General Assembly to recognize rights for victims earned him multiple awards, including from the US National Organization for Victim Assistance. This magna carta for victim rights is influencing advances across the world still today. In 1994, he became the founding director general of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, established by Canada and France and affiliated with the UN. His leadership brought notoriety to the Centre and funding from the US Department of Justice, the British Home Office, and other governments in Europe. He was honored with the Captain of Crime Prevention Award by the Belgian Ministry of the Interior in 1996 and recognition from the Centre s supporting governments in 2000. He has served on task forces in South Africa (for the Mandela government), Canada and the USA and been recognized by Mexico in 2016 for his contributions to crime policy in Latin America. He has led the World Society of Victimology and the International Organization for Victim Assistance, both in special consultative status with ECOSOC. He has served on the board and advised international children's rights and urban safety organizations. He is the author of Smarter Crime Control: A Guide to a Safer Future for Citizens, Communities and Politicians (R&L, 2013), Rights for Victims of Crimes: Rebalancing Justice (R&L, 2010) and Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime (2006).