United Nations

Organization's mission

The World Society of Victimology is a not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization with Special Category consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Brought together by a mutual concern for victims, its world-wide membership includes: victim assistance practitioners, social scientists, social workers, physicians, lawyers, civil servants, volunteers, university academics of all levels, and students.

The purpose of the WSV is to advance victimological research and practices around the world; to encourage interdisciplinary and comparative work and research in this field, and to advance cooperation between international, national, regional and local agencies and other groups who are concerned with the problems of victims.

Areas of work

Human trafficking
Smuggling of migrants
Firearms trafficking and manufacturing
Environmental crime
Cybercrime
PVE/Terrorism Prevention
Abuse of power
Drug trafficking and distribution
Crime prevention
Victim protection

Areas of interest

Human trafficking
Smuggling of migrants
Firearms trafficking and manufacturing
Environmental crime
Cybercrime
PVE/Terrorism Prevention
Abuse of power
Drug trafficking and distribution
Crime prevention
Victim protection

Skills and Expertise Offered

Advocacy, including media relations
Monitoring and research
Sharing experiences and best practice
Joint-project submissions

Engagement type

The World Society of Victimology (WSV) has assisted with the drafting of the revised Handbook on Justice for Victims and the drafting of model legislative provisions to support and protect the rights and needs of victims of terrorism, as well as other UNODC publications, such as the Handbook on Restorative Justice Programmes (second edition). It provided a statement at the 2022 (CCPCJ) Thematic Discussions on the Implementation of the Kyoto Declaration, related to Pillar II: Advancing the Criminal Justice System. Members have contributed to the Consultative Dialogues on trafficking in human beings and smuggling human beings, as well as sent a delegate to the dialogue on firearms. Furthermore, the WSV has made interventions to support and protect the rights of victims of crime, to promote crime prevention and to address crimes that affect the environment. It played a key role in the development of the UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, and since the mid-1980s has often sent a delegation to both the UN Commission and the Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Members of the WSV have undertaken the UNODC training on SE4U Training on Stakeholder Engagement for the Implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), and members have contributed to the development of training materials.

Public-Private partnership initiative

No