التعويضات عن أعمال العنف الجنسي التي تُرتكب في حالات النزاع

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured to chair this session on reparations for acts of sexual violence committed in conflict.

This is one of the most neglected aspects in the chain of responses devoted sexual violence. But for victims of such violence, reparations have both a particular importance and a significant potential.

Think of the 14 year old child who was raped twice, first by armed men who attached her village and another time when she took refuge in an IDP camp and, although she found the courage to come forward and suffered the pain of retelling her story again and again, her case was not pursued because she couldn’t identify her perpetrators. Think of the 15 year old who was rejected by her family when she became pregnant and now lives isolated and destitute. We need to do more for these girls and all victims of sexual violence. We need to empower them and reverse the stigma.

Sexual violence is deeply rooted in gender-based discrimination. Building on stereotypical sex-roles, it is used to subjugate and humiliate its victims. The stigma attached to sexual violence, building on pre-existing gender-based discrimination, exposes victims to life-long disempowerment and marginalization. It also creates additional hurdles in the path to justice, fuelling a vicious cycle of impunity and social acceptability.

Reparations have the potential to break that cycle. They can help restore a sense of dignity and justice, address the pernicious consequences of sexual violence in the lives of survivors and help dismantle patterns of gender-based discrimination.

The Secretary-General Guidance Note on Reparations for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, the development of which was steered jointly by OHCHR and UN Women, provides a comprehensive overview of the principles to be applied for this potential to be fully exploited. I would like to highlight some of them:

Firstly, reparations must be accessible to all survivors of sexual violence. Accessibility and inclusion include measures such as procedures that do not uncover the violations suffered and access criteria that are mindful of the difficulties that victims, particularly women and children, may face in complying with strict formal requirements, such as providing documentation or holding a bank account. When sexual violence takes place on a large scale, administrative reparations programmes have the potential of being more inclusive and accessible than courts. They can reach out to a greater number of victims and their procedures are more flexible and evidentiary standards and costs lower.

Secondly, reparation programmes must be designed with the participation of survivors and relevant civil society actors and groups. Their views are crucial to ensure that reparations are accessible, equitable and effective. Participation is also important to strengthen agency and empower victims, as well as to strengthen awareness of rights. In Uganda, OHCHR and the Ugandan Human Rights Commission have been conducting trainings since 2008 to build awareness of reparations, while simultaneously conducting research on the views of conflict affected communities.

Thirdly, reparations should be gender-just and ensure an adequate assessment of the harm suffered. As sexual violence is a gender-based form of violence, the harm must also be assessed from a gender perspective and analysed in the context of existing power dynamics. In Kosovo, victims consulted by OHCHR, indicated that the consequences of sexual violence should be addressed through medical and psychological care, financial compensation, monetary support for the education of their children and an official declaration to restore their dignity and reputation. Complex programmes combining individual and collective, material and symbolic reparations are more likely to address harms without exposing victims to further stigmatization or risks if retaliation.

Fourthly, reparations should be transformative of the structural conditions within society that allowed the violence to happen in the first place. Priority should therefore be given to reparations that can help enhance women’s autonomy and offer opportunities traditionally denied to them. In DRC, OHCHR, in collaboration with the Federal Republic of Brazil, gave five grants to local NGOs to provide survivors with psychosocial therapy, medical insurance, the payment of school fees and training and supplies for small businesses. The survivors who benefitted from these projects reported how for the first time they had a life project and felt in control of their lives.

While a lot of progress has been made in conceptually defining the framework for just and effective reparations, implementation continues to be a challenge. Today’s discussion is an opportunity to learn about ongoing efforts and promising developments and practices. We have an impressive line-up of speakers to kick-start the discussion. I am very pleased to introduce them:

• Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women
• Bojan Glavašević, Assistant Minister. Ministry of Veterans Affairs, Croatia
• Betty Murungi, Former Board member of the ICC trust Fund for Victims and former Commissioner of Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission
• Ruth Rubio Marin, Professor of Constitutional and Public Comparative Law, European University, Firenze; Author and Expert on Gender and Reparations