Never the same again

More than 5 million people were the victims of crime in the Netherlands in 2008. Most of these victims report that they suffered virtually no physical injury or financial loss, and the ensuing emotional problems were generally limited. Nonetheless, there is a group of victims who do suffer serious consequences.
In order to offer these victims the right help and support, the Dutch Ministry of Justice asked the Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP to carry out a study of the consequences of crimes as experienced by victims. 
This study maps out those consequences in three ways: via a systematic literature search, through analyses of large-scale victim surveys and in interviews with victims. The study focuses on the physical, financial, emotional and social consequences which can occur in the short and longer term.
One of the main findings is that offences which are serious in legal terms (measured by the punishment they attract) do not always have serious consequences for the victims, whereas victims of offences that are not serious in legal terms sometimes do suffer serious consequences.