Crippled in a 1983 restaurant bombing of undetermined origins, the 53-year-old Paris lawyer helped dream up the Ff22 ($3) tax that has been levied on French insurance policies since 1995 to benefit victims of terrorism.
,Too often speedy relief to victims and their families is overlooked,, says Rudetzki. She lobbied for the tax as president and founder of S.O.S. Attentats, a group that aids terror victims and administers the Fonds de Garantie des Victimes des Actes de Terrorisme et d,autres Infractions. The Ff3.48 billion fund aims to get cash to victims and their families within a few weeks and complements government aid and private insurance.
,Obliging people to go through the bureaucratic processes of applying and then waiting for compensation from insurance companies and government agencies can leave them feeling alienated and neglected, especially when property is being quickly repaired and indemnified,, Rudetzki says.
In all, S.O.S. Attentats has distributed Ff392 million to 2,650 French terrorism victims.
,The impact of the tax and the terrorism fund is as much psychological as material,, says Rudetzki.
