A government panel is discussing ways to improve assistance to crime victims and their families. It has already decided to increase financial assistance for such people. But it should not forget that stronger support for organizations that assist such people will go a long way toward improving their conditions, too.

In 1980, Japan introduced a law to pay allowances to victims of such crimes as murder and bodily injury. In 2004, a basic law for crime victim assistance was enacted. According to a basic plan worked out in 2005 in line with that law, the government decided on 258 types of assistance, including housing, employment and health, psychiatric and welfare services.

Under the 1980 law, the bereaved family of a crime victim may receive up to ¥15.73 million and a person who suffers a disability in a crime may get up to ¥18.49 million. By contrast, the family of a person killed in a hit-and-run traffic accident or in a traffic accident caused by an uninsured driver may receive up to ¥30 million, and a person who suffered a serious aftereffect as a result of such an accident may get up to ¥40 million. These amounts from the government correspond to benefits provided by compulsory automobile liability insurance. The panel proposes raising the allowances for crime victims and their families to the level of car-insurance benefits. This is a reasonable proposal.