• Legislation should provide for a coordinated community response for survivors of sexual assault. (See: Coordinated Crisis Intervention, StopVAW, The Advocates for Human Rights.)

• Legislation should require the state to develop and fund comprehensive services for survivors. These services should include: one rape crisis centre for every 200,000 population; programs for survivors of sexual assault; survivor witness programs; elderly survivor programs; sexual assault survivor hotlines; and incest abuse programs. (See:UN Handbook 3.6.1 and 3.6.2.) The legislation should include a plan to provide survivors with this information. (See: Minnesota, USA Statute §611A.02; The Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act (1998) of Philippines)

For example, the Prevention and Elimination of Violence Against Women and Gender Violence (2008) law of San Marino requires the state to provide specialized social services for victims of sexual violence that are easily accessible to victims and which employ specifically trained staff. Ch.1 Art.4

 Promising practice: Italian Law No. 38/2009 on Urgent Measures Regarding Sexual Violence (2009) (Italian only) provides funding for a national 24-hour hotline to provide skilled counseling and legal assistance to victims and additional funds to support projects for victims of sexual and gender violence.

• Legislation should provide for coordinated sexual assault response teams or programs to give survivors a broad range of necessary care and services (legal, medical, and social services) and to increase the likelihood that the assault can be successfully prosecuted. Such programs or teams should include a forensic examiner, a sexual assault advocate, a prosecutor, and a law enforcement officer. All responding actors should follow specific protocols that outline their responsibilities in treating and providing services to survivors of sexual assault. (See: Sexual Assault Response Teams, The Advocates for Human Rights)

 Promising practice: Sexual assault nurse examiners who have advanced education in the forensic examination of sexual assault survivors are utilized in many US communities. These communities have found that victims are not re-traumatized by long waits for medical exams and insensitive gathering of forensic evidence when sexual assault nurse examiners work with victims. The use of these sexual assault nurse examiners has increased the rate of successful prosecutions, especially in non-stranger cases and child sexual assault cases, because a more thorough documentation of evidence using specialized medical tools can support a victim’s account of an assault by establishing a lack of consent, and, in the case of a child, can gather evidence that will increase the number of guilty pleas so that a child doesn’t have to testify. (See: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Programs: Improving the Community Response to Sexual Assault Victims (2001))

CASE STUDY: United Kingdom: More Rape Convictions Due to Improved Survivor Services and Police Partnership with Survivor Support Network

In Cleveland, United Kingdom, rape conviction rates were reported to have improved by 10% in 3 years. Police cited the opening of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in 2007 as a big step forward in improving survivor care, including 24-hour access to specially-trained crisis workers, emergency contraception, sexual health advice and referral to rape counselors. The Centre’s private, hospital-like environment and trained counselors support victims and police come to the centre to interview them. Evidence is collected quickly and thoroughly. The police attributed the improved conviction rates to police partnership with prosecutors, hospitals and volunteer service providers.

“In the course of any investigation we liaise closely with the [prosecutors] and counsel to ensure that prosecutions are pursued wherever possible and victims can also receive support from an independent sexual violence advisor. These specially trained advisors are employed by voluntary sector agencies to provide a high level of support to rape victims and to ensure that victims are fully aware of criminal justice procedures,” said the Head of Crime for Cleveland Police. 

Access to the full range of Sexual Assault Referral Centre services is assured even in cases where the victim does not wish to make a report to the police. 

See:  Cleveland’s Success in Rape Convictions, 10/06/2009.

•  Legislation should mandate dedicated funding to ensure the appointment of sexual assault service providers, their registration as service providers, and to provide for their specialized training. (See: Good practices in legislation on “harmful practices” against women (2010) 3.4.2 and 3.4.3.)

Good Practice: The country of Malaysia’s one-stop centre, which brought together service for victims of domestic or sexual violence, was designated a “good practice” in the Secretary-General’s In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women (2006). Victims are seen in private rooms, receive counseling and referrals to shelters, and access to police who have an office on premises.

CASE STUDY: The Philippines’ Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998

The Philippines’ Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998 provides numerous protections for victims of sexual assault.  It requires the government to coordinate its agencies with non-governmental organizations in order to establish and operate rape crisis centres in every province and city to “assist and protect rape victims in the litigation of their cases and their recovery.” (Sec.2) The law mandates the establishment of a women’s desk in every police precinct in order that a police woman is available to investigate sexual assault cases. The law also requires that the preliminary investigation of women rape victims must be assigned to female prosecutors. It provides for closed-door proceedings if necessary to ensure a fair trial and the best interests of the parties, and for the non-disclosure of identities and circumstances of cases if that also supports the best interests of the parties. (Sec. 5) Finally, the Act provides that evidence of a complainant’s past sexual conduct and reputation shall not be admitted unless, and only to the extent that, the court finds that this evidence is material to the case. (Sec. 6) The Act also mandated the formulation of necessary regulations within 90 days, and appropriated funds to establish and maintain the centres, with the important stipulation that the necessary amount to maintain the centres be included annually in the General Appropriations Act. (Sec. 7)

• Legislation should provide that survivor services are not conditional upon filing a report with the police, or upon the survivor’s decision to testify or to work with prosecution regarding the case. (See: Gender-Based Violence Laws in Sub-Saharan Africa, p. 44)

• Legislation should require that law enforcement, prosecutors, and judicial personnel, medical sexual assault response teams, and social service professionals who serve victims of sexual assault receive regular training on best practices and updated techniques in investigation, handling and prosecution of sexual assault cases and in the support and advocacy of sexual assault survivors. Legislation should require state funding of such training. 

See: National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, Uniform Protocol for the Management of Victims, Survivors, and Witnesses of Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences, a resource for service providers, traditional leaders, and others. The protocol includes a description of the domestic violence and sexual offence context in South Africa, its objectives, and a comprehensive set of minimum standards in service delivery, monitoring of services, and governance of service delivery. Available in English.

Promising practice: The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act (No.32) of South Africa  requires that national directorates on police, prosecutors and health must develop training courses for these professionals and include social context in the trainings, develop protocols, and provide for and  promote the use of uniform norms, standards and procedures to ensure that as many as possible are “able to deal with sexual offence cases in an appropriate, efficient and sensitive manner.” (Ch. 7, Part 4.)

See section on Implementation of Laws in this Knowledge Module.

• Legislation should state that no legal or other proceedings may be brought against sexual assault service providers who are acting in good faith to assist and protect complainant/survivors of sexual assault. (See: Good practices in legislation on “harmful practices” against women (2010), 3.4.3.)