Statement of the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights at the High-Level Side Event on Sexual Violence: Forms, Consequences and Interventions

New York, 5 March 2013

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very honoured and pleased to be part of this eminent panel today. My remarks will focus on the need to address impunity for these atrocious crimes of sexual violence against women.

Figures on the incidence of sexual violence, where they exist, give a very grim picture of reality. Yet, for both sexual violence occurring in times of conflict and at “peace-time”, the arrest and conviction rates remain very low.

Impunity is a denial of justice for the victims and fuels further violence. And victims recognize this acutely. In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where I visited several communities talking to victims of massive rapes committed by armed groups, a woman told me “If there is impunity for our rapists, even though they are sent back to their countries, they can rape there because no justice was done. And new generations who have seen their fathers raping, they will rape”.

Impunity: Obstacles to Justice

There are many elements that make the successful prosecution of sexual violence very difficult, as well as promising strategies to overcome them. Let me first briefly elaborate the challenges.

The legal framework is inadequate in many countries of the world. There are still provisions in penal codes that exempt rapists from punishment if they marry their victims or that exonerate perpetrators of so called “honour” crimes. Restrictive definitions of rape are still in place and certain forms of sexual violence, such as marital rape, are often not criminalized.

Sexual violence continues to be heavily underreported due to social, cultural and practical obstacles. Reporting sexual violence can result in stigma; survivors losing status, becoming “unmarriageable” or being ostracized by their families and communities. In societies where sexual violence is a taboo subject, women may find it inconceivable to report it to male authorities. In poor countries or rural communities, geographic distance from medical facilities, police stations and courts makes it difficult to access them. Costs associated with filing complaints are also an obstacle, as is the absence of free legal assistance, leaving survivors unable to take the needed course of action to bring the perpetrators to account. Discriminatory attitudes of the police may discourage survivors from coming forward, for fear of not being believed or of being further humiliated.

Even when victims come forward, challenges continue during the investigation and prosecution phase. Victims’ and witness’ testimonies remain the key evidence in many countries. However, survivors of sexual violence may have great difficulties relating their experience; trauma can impair the memory and capacity to coherently recall facts, resulting in their testimonies being regarded as lacking credibility. Some countries still require medical examination reports to prosecute rape. If medical centres are distant, they can be difficult to reach, and if too much time elapses before the victims are examined, the required forensic evidence may be lost. Often there is a lack of political or institutional will and capacity to prosecute sexual violence crimes.

Obstacles continue in the trial phase, where survivors can be re-traumatized and re-victimized. Furthermore, stereotypical views surrounding sexual violence continue to be applied by judges at the disadvantage of victims.

In many parts of the world, victims of sexual violence pursue relief through local or traditional justice mechanisms that operate independently of the formal judicial system. However, these mechanisms often replicate societal patterns of discrimination and have inadequate sanctions against sexual violence or are procedurally biased against women, e.g. when compensation is given to the family of the victim rather than the victim herself.

Promising Practices

There are promising practices in order to overcome these obstacles. A number of strategies have been put in place to facilitate the first contact between the victims and the justice system. Innovative ideas such as the so called “one-stop shops”, where victims can get medical and legal services in one location have proven helpful in increasing the rate of reporting. The First Lady of El Salvador has given us a passionate account of how this works in her own country, with the strong support and political will of the President himself. OHCHR has been active in supporting legal clinics in remote areas of DRC and has registered a rise in the number of convictions for sexual violence by military tribunals. Increasing the number of women police officers and creating specialized gender units has also proven helpful. Finally, integrating medical and forensic expertise is important, as victims may be discouraged from pursuing their cases if this requires undergoing multiple physical examinations.

Efforts to address obstacles in the prosecution of sexual violence have focussed on strengthening the capacity of forensic experts, investigators and prosecutors, including through the development and use of standard investigation guidelines. In the DRC, for example, OHCHR has recently supported the development of a guide of forensic expertise concerning sexual violence. Multi-disciplinary sexual crimes units of investigators have been created in some countries to strengthen the capacity to gather evidence. Ensuring gender diversity of investigating teams, as well as gender specific training or support by gender advisors, has proven to facilitate victims’ cooperation and to ensure a better presentation of cases. Finally, expanding the scope of evidence for sexual violence to include testimonies from other witnesses and scientific experts, such as psychologists and sociologists, can assist judges in understanding the victims’ behaviours, choices and needs.

Considerable guidance has been developed on measures during trial to protect the identity of the victims and prevent further harm, such as avoiding contact with perpetrators or limiting questions that can be asked during testimony. Promoting an increase in the number of women judges and providing training on the nature and effects of sexual violence are helpful strategies to overcome the harmful application of stereotypes to sexual violence cases.

Recommendations

These few examples show that detailed guidance exists on successful strategies to address impunity for sexual violence. Important initiatives are being taken in many countries of the world, including with the support of the international community. The question we need to answer is: how can we further strengthen existing efforts in order to accelerate progress?

Let me contribute some points to this complex debate.

• The existence of a robust legal framework in line with international standards is an essential first step to address impunity for sexual violence. Such framework should be based on the principle of equality and on the full recognition of women’s rights to sexual autonomy and bodily integrity, instead of the protection of honour, modesty and chastity. This is essential in order to more effectively combat sexual violence and challenge the harmful application of gender stereotypes to sexual violence cases.

• There must be political will to ensure justice for the victims and to allocate adequate resources for comprehensive interventions at every turn. To give a simple example, a “one-stop shop” can only be effective if there are trained and sensitized police officers willing to take the reported incident forward. The forensic evidence collected by a trained nurse will be useless unless analysed by a properly equipped forensic laboratory. Well presented evidence may not make it to court if prosecutors are not willing to pursue the case or may not lead to convictions if the judiciary is not properly trained or sensitized.

• States should take positive measures to tackle the stereotypical views of women as models of chastity and keepers of family honour. Rape myths and stereotypical views of women will continue to prevent victims from reporting cases to the authorities and will negatively affect the professional behaviour of police officers, prosecutors and judges: CEDAW article 5 (a) specifically calls upon States to take appropriate steps to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women to eliminate prejudices and stereotypes.

• More efforts are needed, including by the international community, to work with traditional and informal justice mechanisms. A recent review undertaken by OHCHR on assistance provided by several UN entities in the area of access to justice for women, found that only a few activities engaged informal justice systems. However, as argued by the UNDP, UNICEF and UN Women in the report “Informal Justice Systems: Charting a Course for Human Rights-Based Engagement”, the importance of informal justice systems cannot be underestimated and the many social, economic or procedural factors that prevent women from achieving a satisfactory remedy from these mechanisms must be addressed specifically.

• Finally, let me conclude by stressing that taking perpetrators to justice is only one aspect of ensuring an effective remedy for the victims. Another crucial element is providing reparations for the harm suffered. Ensuring that reparations are just and adequate requires a full understanding of the gender-nature and consequences of sexual violence, as well as of how gender must come to bear in operationalizing reparations in a way that does not exclude, marginalize, or penalize women who have been subjected to sexual violence. OHCHR and UN Women are finalizing a Guidance Note on Reparations for Victims of Conflict-Relate Sexual Violence which will provide strengthened guidance in this regard.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A survivor of sexual violence said “our right that we ask is to be respected and considered as other people because we did nothing to deserve what happened to us.” Fair and accessible judicial proceedings can be empowering for survivors and their outcome can help to restore their sense of dignity and justice. They can also contribute to changing societal perception of sexual violence as an inevitable scourge of war or as something victims brought upon themselves due to their behaviour. Recent crimes of sexual violence committed against young women in India and South Africa have shocked and outraged the conscience of all around the world, and given rise to popular demands for justice. Let us build upon this momentum to strengthen our efforts and provide adequate responses to these legitimate demands.

Thank you.