Raising awareness of victims’ rights in the EU

The EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights aims to ensure that all victims of crime can rely on their rights, no matter where they are in the EU or the circumstances of the crime. To support the strategy, DG JUST launched an awareness campaign across 10 EU Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.

This ‘Eyes Open’ campaign targeted crimes including xenophobia, gender-based violence, LGBTIQ-phobia, and violence against children or individuals. The campaign uniquely targeted young adults aged 18-30, not necessarily victims themselves, but those who may know a victim in their lives.

Challenge

ICF Next was asked to create the communications campaign to raise awareness about EU victims’ rights. It would also highlight the professional support services available for EU citizens and the various ways to report a crime—within 10 selected EU Member States—by explaining how the EU guarantees their rights, no matter where they are living in the EU. The ultimate aim of the campaign was to increase the number of requests to support services, potentially leading to an increase in the number of crimes reported.

Solution

We created a powerful communications campaign that showed victims they are not alone. It was built around impactful videos and portraits by Frieke Janssens, emphasizing the central pledge, “I will keep my eyes open," to recognize and help victims. This promise to victims was the overarching message, uniting diverse citizens whose portraits reflected the target audience. The assets embodied the commitment of a range of ordinary people from various backgrounds to remain vigilant and offer assistance to victims of violence, reinforcing a sense of solidarity and collective responsibility. We also created a comprehensive website in 24 EU languages to provide essential information and resources. Through every asset we created, we aimed to foster a supportive movement, encouraging individuals to recognize victims within their social circles and to understand their rights and the available support services.

Results

Through the campaign, we were able to successfully raise awareness and support for victims' rights across the EU. Paid media efforts, including outdoor advertising and social media, reached over 95% of our target audience, generating one million link clicks and 480,000 website visitors, while localized campaigns in the 10 focus countries increased the resonance of the message. Engagement with stakeholders and influencers garnered support from 174 organizations and 227 media pieces, and influencers produced 381 pieces of content, engaging over 270,000 people. Launch events like the Eyes Open Challenge engaged over 450 participants, and we used innovative approaches to extend our campaign’s reach even further, including a children's book that was both distributed physically in the target countries and made available digitally. Collectively, the campaign successfully empowered individuals and encouraged empathy for victims of violence across the EU.