Jindal Institute Of Behavioural Sciences Hosts 7th Edition Of International Conference On Victim Assistance

The two-day conference, in its 7th edition deliberated on the multiple issues around Victims assistance: Victims' Rights and the Criminal Justice, System, Violence within Family (Includes: IPV, Child Abuse, Elder Abuse), Sex, Gender and Sexuality (including violence against LGBTQ), Role of NGOs, Violence Against Women and Children, Media and Cyber Victimization, Human Trafficking and Victimization of Immigrants. There were altogether 70 papers were presented by eminent behavioural scientists and Victimology and Psychological Studies’ scholars from across the globe. 

The Conference was inaugurated by Mr. Chaman Lal, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police and Former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission and Ms. Enakshi Ganguly, Co-Founder, HAQ: Centre for Child Rights in the august presence of Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor and Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS. 

The session also saw the unveiling of an in-house journal, ‘Global Advances in Victimology and Psychological Studies’ from Jindal School of Behavioural Studies.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS said, “We organise this conference every year and with the support of WSV and Indian Society of Victimology, we could successfully conduct the 7th edition. In the last 6 years, we have got 12 research projects like Internet Infidelity, Euthanasia, Digital Piracy, Death Penalty, funded by JGU and also the government of India. This is a huge achievement. With conferences like these, we can have more collaborative research; learn good victim assistance and other programs. This would benefit both the society and the country.”

In today’s world ridden with violence and offense, victimology not only becomes a potent tool educate citizens about behaviours that place them at risk for becoming victims, but it also helps those working in criminal justice, law enforcement and mental health better assist victims.  The psychological effects criminal acts have on victims; members of the criminal justice system are better equipped to guide them through the stressful process of prosecuting offenders.

Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor welcoming the delegates said, “Conferences like these are an intrinsic part of the vision of JGU. JGU seeks to build an intellectually vibrant conversation about some of the critical issues faced by our society, that is being discussed here. We are a social science university and are deeply committed to debates and discussions. The awareness of victimology in academia has to grow – many fields deal with similar individual and institutional phenomena”.

Mr. Chaman Lal, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police and Former Special Rapporteur, National Human Rights Commission said, “I feel honoured to be invited to this international conference. Victimology and Victim Rights is something of recent origin in our country. We have always come across criticism that we don’t have mannerisms which show concerns for the victims because the law only tries to pursue a trial against the accused, but the interest of the victim is neglected. This conference is an excellent platform to discuss these issues and how to work towards finding a solution.” 

The conference concluded with interesting perspectives on Victimology. Experts deliberated upon the roles of- victim assistance and advocacy of their rights, as well as the promotion of research about victims. Participants deliberated upon the issue of awareness of victim needs and rights, and understanding of the process of victimization which has grown considerably and evolved in current time.