The Bureau of Consular Affairs, Overseas
Citizens Services is committed to assisting
American citizens who become victims of crime
while traveling, working, or residing abroad.
Government officials, known as consuls or
consular officers, at embassies and consulates
in nearly 250 cities throughout the world are
responsible for assisting U.S. citizens who may
be traveling, working, or residing abroad. In
addition, in approximately 50 cities where a
significant number of Americans reside or visit
and there is no U.S. embassy or consulate,
consular agents provide emergency assistance to
U.S. citizens. Consuls, consular agents, and
local employees work with their counterparts in
the Bureau of Consular Affairs Overseas Citizens
Services Office in Washington, D.C. to provide
emergency and non-emergency services to
Americans abroad.
How to Contact Us
Consular duty personnel are available for
emergency assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, at embassies, consulates, and consular
agencies overseas and in Washington, D.C. To
contact the Office of Overseas Citizens Services
in the U.S. call 1-888-407-4747 (during business
hours) or 202-647-5225 (after hours). Contact
information for U.S. embassies, consulates, and
consular agencies overseas is on this Internet
site.
If You Are the Victim of a Crime Overseas
Contact the nearest U.S. embassy, consulate, or
consular agency for assistance.
Contact local police to report the incident and
obtain immediate help with safety concerns.
Request a copy of the police report.
Consular Assistance to American Crime Victims
Consular personnel can provide assistance to
crime victims. When a U.S. citizen becomes the
victim of a crime overseas, he or she may suffer
physical, emotional, or financial injuries.
Additionally, the emotional impact of the crime
may be intensified because the victim is in
unfamiliar surroundings. The victim may not be
near sources of comfort and support, fluent in
the local language, or knowledgeable about local
laws and customs.
Consuls, consular agents, and local employees at
overseas posts are familiar with local
government agencies and resources in the country
where they work. They can help American crime
victims with issues such as:
Replacing a stolen passport;
Contacting family, friends, or employers;
Obtaining appropriate medical care;
Addressing emergency needs that arise as a
result of the crime;
Obtaining general information about the local
criminal justice process and information about
your case;
Obtaining information about local resources to
assist victims, including foreign crime victim
compensation programs;
Obtaining information about crime victim
assistance and compensation programs in the
U.S.; and
Obtaining a list of local attorneys who speak
English.
Consular officials cannot, however, investigate
crimes, provide legal advice or represent you in
court, serve as official interpreters or
translators, or pay legal, medical, or other
fees for you.
Individual Reactions to Crime Victimization
How individuals react to being the victim of a
crime will vary from person to person.
Reactions are affected by individual factors
such as how the victim handles stress, the
nature and duration of the crime, the physical
safety of the victim, and the number and type of
support systems available. Reactions to a crime
may be immediate or delayed. The physical,
emotional, or cognitive (involving thinking
ability) symptoms a victim may experience could
include nausea, headaches, fatigue,
hyperventilation, or sleeping problems. Some
victims report feelings of anxiety or fear,
hyper-vigilance, guilt, anger, or isolation.
Some experience difficulty making decisions,
short-term memory problems, difficulty
concentrating, or recurring memories of the
crime.
It is important to realize that these are normal
feelings, behaviors and reactions to an abnormal
event. One of the first things to pay attention
to is your need to feel safer. Addressing
safety concerns and receiving emotional support
can help. For most victims the reactions
described above diminish with time. If these
reactions persist and are disrupting your life
or getting worse after three or four weeks, you
should consider seeking professional assistance.
Resources and Information for Crime Victims:
Victim Assistance : If you are the victim
of a crime while overseas you may benefit from
specialized resources for crime victims
available in the U.S. Throughout the United
States thousands of local crime victim
assistance programs offer help to victims of
violent crime and most will help residents of
their community who have been the victim of a
crime in another country. These include rape
crisis counseling programs, shelter and
counseling programs for battered women, support
groups and bereavement counseling for family
members of homicide victims, diagnostic and
treatment programs for child abuse victims,
assistance for victims of drunk driving crashes,
and others. Information about locating crime
victim assistance programs is below.
Victim Compensation : All states operate
crime victim compensation programs and nearly
half of them offer benefits to their residents
who are victims of violent crime overseas. (See
contact information for state compensation
programs below.) These state compensation
programs provide financial assistance to
eligible victims for reimbursement of expenses
such as medical treatment, counseling, funeral
costs, lost income or loss of support, and
others. Generally victim compensation programs
require the victim to report the crime to law
enforcement and they usually request a copy of
the police report.
Contact Information for Victim Compensation
and Assistance Programs:
Information about each states crime victim
compensation program and how to apply for
compensation is available on the Internet at the
web site of the National Association of Crime
Victim Compensation Boards,
http://www.nacvcb.org
The toll-free 24 hours a day /7 days a week
hotline for sexual assault crisis counseling and
referrals in the United States is
1-800-656-HOPE. It is operated by a non-profit
organization, RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest
National Network), which also has information on
the Internet at
http://www.rainn.org
Information about local sexual assault victim
assistance programs in the U.S. is also
available from each states sexual assault
coalition. Contact information for these state
coalitions are listed at the website of the U.S.
Department of Justice Violence Against Women
Office,
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo/help.htm
The toll-free 24 hours a day /7 days a week
National Domestic Violence Hotline, which
provides crisis counseling and referrals in the
U.S., is 1-800-799-SAFE.
Information about local domestic violence victim
assistance programs in the U.S. is also
available from each states domestic violence
coalition. Contact information for these state
coalitions is listed at the website of the U.S.
Department of Justice Violence Against Women
Office,
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/vawo/help.htm
The toll-free 24 hours a day /7 days a week
crisis counseling and referral line for families
and friends of those who have died by violence
is 1-888-818-POMC. It is operated by a
non-profit organization, POMC, Inc., (The
National Organization of Parents of Murdered
Children) which also has information on the
Internet at
http://www.pomc.org
Information about national and local resources
for victims and family members of victims of
drunk driving crashes is available at the web
site of Mothers Against Drunk Driving,
http://www.madd.org
Contact information for non-emergency victim
assistance services in communities throughout
the U.S. is available at the web site of the
U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of
Crime.
Information for crime victims on the impact of
crime, safety planning, legal rights and civil
legal remedies, and options for assistance and
referrals to local programs is also available
from the National Crime Victim Center. Call
toll free (8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST)
1-800-FYI-CALL or call TTY for hearing impaired
(8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST) 1-800-211-7996.
Information is also available on the Internet at
http://www.ncvc.org
Information and referral to victim assistance
programs is available from the National
Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). Call
toll-free 24 hours a day /7 days a week
1-800-TRY-NOVA. Information is also available
on the Internet at
http://www.try-nova.org
Information about victim assistance programs in
approximately 20 countries is available at the
web site of Victim Assistance On-line,
http://www.vaonline.org
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