Tokyo, March 17 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government adopted a new five-year plan Tuesday to support crime victims and bereaved families, featuring measures to allow them to receive support more smoothly and in ways that reduce their psychological burden. In the new basic plan, the fifth of its kind, the government cited five priority issues after reviewing the past four plans spanning 20 years–damage recovery and economic assistance, recovery from and prevention of physical and mental harm, increasing involvement in criminal procedures, improving support systems and enhancing public understanding. Based on interviews with victims and support groups, the government came up with 307 measures for the new basic plan, which starts in fiscal 2026, up by 28 from the current plan, expiring this month. Specifically, the government will introduce a victim’s handbook that records details, such as how they were harmed and what support they have received, so that victims do not have to explain their stories over and over again, thus reducing their psychological burden when receiving support. The basic plan also calls for keeping records of the support process for each victim to allow information to be shared among various institutions. For victims to receive necessary support smoothly and efficiently, the five-year plan envisions expanded one-stop services, centering around support coordinators who connect relevant institutions, to prevent any victims from being left out or passed around from one institution to another. The government aims to remove the regional divide through human resources development and financial assistance, the plan said. Also included in the plan is accelerating the introduction of a leave system to allow victims to take time off work for recovery and court proceedings, as well as expanding the existing government-led “crime victims’ week” awareness-raising activity to a month-long campaign. To prevent secondary victimization, the plan said the government will promote trauma-informed care for supporters to enable them to gain knowledge about trauma and how to cope with it. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Japan Govt Maps Out New Steps to Support Crime Victims
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