In this comprehensive text, the authors combine their experience of the emerging victims' movement to provide a theoretical and practical critique of victimology. Drawing on local, national and international sources (including Europe and USA), unpublished documents and research, the authors map out the issues facing victims today. Topics covered include: the risks of crime and how they vary from country to country; the impact of crime on the victim; the treatment of victims by the police, welfare agencies and courts; why governments have recently become interested in victim issues; policies and practices in other nations and what we can learn from them; what services are developing in the rest of the world; and how we can best ensure justice for victims while preserving the right of the defendant.