RAA Sachsen e.V., the German civil society organisation and its European partners have launched a Practical Guide on Hate Crime Victim Support in Europe. The book was presented at the OSCE and FRA in Vienna and is now available for the public since April the 19th.

Thanks to the big effort deployed by the different NGOs, this comprehensive guide presents rich experiences and knowledge on supporting hate crime victims. APAV was one of the organisations that participated in the guide.

The civil society organisations are the main audience targeted, however, judges, police officers, lawyers, and people who are in contact with victims such as doctors, psychologists, social workers...etc. will also benefit from the perspectives and recommendations presented in this practical book. In fact, the guide discusses the impact of hate violence and crime on individuals, their needs and the difficulties they face.

The Practical Guide on hate crime victim support adopted a victim-centered approach and the victim‘s perspective is heard in an empowering way. The NGOs displayed a range of concrete cases from the different European countries in order to better understand about supporting and counselling victims of hate crime.

Finally, this guide will be pioneering in making the voices of victims heard, and ensuring that they are appropriately taken care of.
 
- The book Hate Crime Victim Support in Europe – A practical Guide published by RAA Saxony is available in English and can be ordered for a shipping fee of 6 Euro (international shipping). Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

- The book can be downloaded free of charge here and at www.h8hurts.eu.

The computing magazine “PC GUIA” published an article with a selection of the best apps for smartphone and the Infovictims app, developed by APAV, was one of the highlighted apps under the “National” category. The Infovictims app is available for IPhone, Android, Windows Phone and may be downloaded at: infovitimas.pt/pt/app/

Hack for Good is a development technology marathon (“hackathon") in which the main focus will be the search for innovative solutions that respond to problems related to the aging of the population.

With this challenge, the Gulbenkian Human Development Program aims to stimulate and attract the interest of young talents to develop technological solutions with social impact. During two days (the 23rd and 24th of April) around 157 engineers, programmers, designers, managers and other professionals, organized into 36 teams from all over the country, gathered at the headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

They interacted with seniors, health professionals, researchers and caregivers. The study was conducted in multidisciplinary teams and in an intensive marathon programming and prototyping to explore the potential of technology in order to face the challenge of aging, which makes Portugal one of the 28 Member States with the lowest population renewal rates of working age.

APAV participated in the event as “Mentors experts in the area of wellness and health.”

On the April 7th APAV promoted the Seminar Infovictims: Innovation in promoting victims’ rights. The seminar took place in Porto, at Atmosfera M. This Seminar was developed under Project Infovictims II (co-financed by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Union), promoted by the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV) in partnership with Victim Support Scotland (Scotland), Subvenia Victima (Poland), Weisser Ring Germany (Germany), Weisser Ring Austria (Austria), Victim Support Europe, Public Security Police (PSP) and the Directorate-General of Justice Administration (DGAJ).