About Us

Anne Seymour has 40 years of experience as a national advocate for crime victims and survivors. She is the Associate Academic Program Director for the National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center; and is also a Consultant to several national justice reform initiatives.  She began her career in 1984 as the Director of Public Affairs for the National Office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and, from 1985 to 1993, as co-founder and Director of Communications and Resource Development of the National Victim Center (now National Center for Victims of Crime).  Seymour has consulted with the U.S. Departments of Justice, Defense, State and Health & Human Services, the Peace Corps, and all 50 state governments and D.C. to develop policies and protocols that improve the sensitive treatment of crime victims and survivors, and promote justice reforms that improve individual and public safety.

Seymour is a member of the U.S. Congressional Crime Survivors & Justice Caucus Advisory Group; and is the previous victim advocate representative on the National Institute of Corrections Advisory Board and the USDOJ PREA Review Committee.  She serves on the Boards of Directors of the Clery Center, the National Victims’ Constitutional Amendment Network, and the International Organization for Victim Assistance.  She is a Founding and Core Faculty Member of the USDOJ National Victim Assistance Academy; consultant to the OVC VOCA Training Center; and former Secretary of the National Association of Victim Assistance in Corrections

Ms. Karen McLaughlin directs the US Department of Justice Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.

While executive director of the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, she directed the country’s first independent state victim assistance agency. As the lead architect of the Massachusetts Victim Bill of Rights, Ms. McLaughlin directed the campaign to win passage of the reform.

Ms. McLaughlin has been a pioneer in fostering immediate crisis response services to victims in the aftermath of community-wide trauma. Her victim-assistance credentials include training and consulting for the governments of South Africa, The Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, Argentina, Japan and countries within the Caribbean.

Sherilynn J. Young, is IOVA’s President and Africa Program Coordinator, having provided training and consulting in Rwanda from 2001 to the present. As a NOVA-certified Crisis Responder and Trainer, she saw extensive service as a co-site manager at a family assistance center near the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. She also saw duty in the aftermath of a hurricane in Florida and at less well-known disasters in Oregon. She is a Research Affiliate in the Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles.

Veronica is an international consultant based in Mexico City.

Over 25 years of experience in the fields of research, program direction, and project evaluation, with a focus on access to justice, violence prevention, police and criminal justice systems, gender, human rights, and migration.

She has collaborated with various agencies and organizations within the United Nations system, including UNODC, UN Women, International Organization for Migration, UNESCO, UNHCR, as well as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, and many others.

Veronica has professional experience in over 20 countries in four continents.

In her spare time she enjoys publishing scientific articles, book chapters, books, and international reports.

Heidi Illingworth is the Executive Director of Ottawa Victim Services, a community-based agency that provides emotional support, practical assistance, referrals and advocacy to victims of crime and tragic circumstances. She has extensive experience in the victim services and anti-violence fields. She served as the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime from 2018-2021, providing recommendations to federal Ministers of Justice and Public Safety. Prior to this, she spent 20 years in front line service delivery primarily supporting survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual violence and other serious crimes. She served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for over 11 years. Currently, she is a part time professor in the postgraduate Victimology program at Algonquin College, teaching courses on Victimization and the Law and Diversity in Victim Assistance. She is proud to sit on the Board of Directors of the International Organization for Victim Assistance and as an expert panel member of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability. Most notably, Ms. Illingworth is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her service to Canadians.

Irvin Waller has an MA in Economics and a Ph.D. in Law from Cambridge University. He is an Emeritus Professor of Criminology, University of Ottawa, Canada. He is author of several books, publications and videos for policy makers, and academic articles. His most recent books analyse the research and best practice to propose smart policies to stop crime and protect victims. These books are the basis for smart changes needed to achieve significant reductions in violent crime and fair justice for victims in the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. He is a widely sought after public speaker (in English, French and Spanish) and consults to governments across the world on how to reduce crime and protect victims.

His first seminal book demonstrated the limited ability to change Men Released from Prison. In 1970´s, his pioneering research led to his second seminal book – Burglary, The Victim and the Public on a model victimization survey and ways to assess gaps in services for victims. In 1976, he was invited to the NATO sponsored seminar in Bellagio, Italy as one of 50 victim research and service pioneers from across the world. At the 3rd International Symposium for Victimology in Munster, Germany in 1979, he was elected to the founding executive of the World Society of Victimology (WSV) to which he was elected 5 times. He served for three times as secretary general and once as president and co-organised the highly successful WSV Montreal Symposium in 2000.

He received awards from the World Federation for Mental Health and the National Organisation for Victim Assistance (NOVA) for his work leading to the UN adoption of the Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. He served on the board of the NOVAr and later received an award for his contributions to victim protection through research. He was on the Board of the International Bureau of Children´s Rights to help spearhead the adoption of the UN Guidelines on Justice for Child Victims and Witnesses in 2005.

He was the founding executive director of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime affiliated with the United Nations. He developed the Safer Cities program with UN Habitat and collaborates with the World Health Organisation on violence prevention. He was an adviser on the UN Guidelines for the Prevention of Crime. He worked on national commissions in Canada, South Africa, UK and the USA. His achievements for crime prevention were recognised by Belgium, Canada, England, France and The Netherlands.
In the 1970´s, he served Canada as a senior official on the abolition of the death penalty, gun control, dangerous offender legislation and prevention of violence against women. He was a Full Professor of Criminology from 1982 to 2018 and founding Director of the Institute for the Prevention of Crime, University of Ottawa.

His publications in English include:

• Waller, Irvin, 2019, Science and Secrets of Ending Violent Crime (2019)
• Waller, Irvin, 2011, Rights for Victims of Crime: Rebalancing Justice.
• Waller, Irvin, 1978, Burglary, Victim and the Public. University of Toronto Press
• Waller, Irvin (1974) Men Released from Prison. University of Toronto Press.
• Waller, Irvin & J. Chan, “Prison Use: A …International comparison,” in Leslie Wilkins et al. Correctional Institutions,

His role is described in:

• Rock, Paul, 1986. A View from the Shadows: … Making of the Justice for Victims …. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Oral History of the pioneers in the US Crime Victim Assistance Field http://vroh.uakron.edu/summaries/Waller.php.
• Waller, Irvin, 2004. Harnessing Criminology and Victimology Internationally …. Toronto: De Sitter