QUICK ESCAPE FROM SITE

Other Measures

Employer support or retaliation:

Legislation should provide that an employer must allow a survivor or a witness, or her spouse or family, who is requested or subpoenaed by the prosecutor to attend court for the purpose of giving testimony, reasonable time off from work to attend criminal proceedings for the case. Legislation should provide that an employer who discharges, disciplines, penalizes or threatens an employee who took time off under the provisions described above is guilty of a misdemeanor and must offer the employee job reinstatement and payment of back wages as appropriate. (See: Minnesota, USA Statute §611A.036; UN Handbook 3.6.3; and Organic Act on Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence (2004) of Spain, Article 21.)

Restitution and compensation for survivors

Legislation should provide that a survivor of a sexual assault has the right to receive restitution as part of the criminal case against the offender if the offender is convicted.  Legislation should provide for the creation of a government-sponsored compensation program which entitles survivors to apply for and receive fair compensation. (UN Handbook 3.11.5)

Legislation should provide that the request for restitution may include out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the crime, such as medical or therapy costs, replacement of wages, tuition costs, relocation costs, and services lost due to the crime, funeral expenses, and other expenses not itemized here but incurred as a result of the crime, including funds expended for participation in the legal process. Legislation should provide a mechanism for restitution requests and payment, and for review of compliance with restitution awards. (See: Organic Act on Integrated Protection Measures against Gender Violence (2004) of Spain; and the Criminal Code Act (1974)of Papua New Guinea.)

Compensation should not be a substitute for other penalties. (UN Handbook 3.11.5)

CASE STUDY: War Reparations Provided for Victims of Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone

For the first time in history, war reparations are being directed towards women as a means to address the critical needs of victims of sexual violence. An initiative sponsored by the German government is allowing the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to work in partnership with the Sierra Leone Reparations Program (SLRP) to assist women who suffered brutal forms of violence during the country’s long-running civil war, which ended in 2002.

The IOM provides both technical assistance and expertise to SLRP and aims to directly assist over 600 women by providing trauma counseling, vocational training, and cash allowances to help set up income-generating opportunities.  Through these activities, IOM hopes to see these women begin to recover and escape the detrimental stigmas and feelings of abandonment and neglect that often follow acts of sexual violence. See: "IOM Provides Technical Assistance to Reparations Programme for Victims of Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone" International Organization for Migration (23 March 2010).

Notification of case progress and disposition

  • Legislation should require that prosecutors keep victims informed of all stages of case progression, of releases considered or granted, of all hearings and dispositions. 
  • Legislation should require the prosecutor to make a reasonable and good faith effort to inform the survivor of a pending plea agreement for the offender before it is implemented, including the amount of time recommended for the offender to serve in prison were the court to accept the agreement. Legislation should require the prosecutor to receive input from the survivor which is relevant to bail and plea agreements.

For example, the Sexual Offences Act (2003) of Lesotho states that:

In any criminal proceedings where an accused is charged with an offence of a sexual nature, the prosecutor shall consult with the complainant in the proceedings in order to-

(a)  ensure that any information relevant to the trial is obtained from the complainant, including information relevant to the question whether the accused is to be released on bail and, if the accused were so released, whether any conditions of bail are to be imposed;

(b)  orientate the complainant with the court structure and procedures; and

(c)  provide any information to the complainant necessary to lessen the impact of the trial on the complainant. Part VII, 29

The Combating of Rape Act No 8, (2000) of Namibia includes the following provision:
In criminal proceedings at which an accused is charged with an offence of a sexual nature, it shall be the duty of the prosecutor to consult with the complainant in such proceedings in order –

(a) to ensure that all information relevant to the trial has been obtained from the complainant, including information relevant to the question whether the accused should be released on bail and, if the accused were so released, whether any conditions of bail should be imposed; and

(b) to provide all such information to the complainant as will be necessary to lessen the impact of the trial on the complainant. Section 9

  • Legislation should provide that the survivor has the right to be present at the sentencing hearing and at the hearing for the plea agreement. 
  • Legislation should provide that the survivor has the right to present objections, orally, in writing, or through the prosecutor, to the plea agreement or the proposed disposition, to the court. 

 

The Combating of Rape Act No 8, (2000) of Namibia states that:

(1) A complainant of rape shall have the right -

(a) to attend any proceedings where the question is considered whether an accused who is in custody on a charge of rape should be released on bail or, if bail has been granted to the accused, whether any further conditions of bail should be imposed under section 62 or whether any such conditions of bail should be amended or supplemented under section 63; and

(b) to request the prosecutor in proceedings referred to in paragraph (a) to present any information or evidence to the court that might be relevant to any question under consideration by the court in such proceedings. Section 12

 

  • Legislation should provide that the survivor may request that the trial be commenced within 60 days of the demand. Speedy judicial proceedings are essential to successful judicial proceedings and to the healing of the survivor.  Prosecutors should be required to make reasonable efforts to comply with the victim’s request. 
  • Legislation should require that the prosecutor make every reasonable effort to notify and seek input from the survivor before referring an offender into any treatment or diversion program in lieu of prosecution for a sexual assault. (See: Minnesota, USA Statute §611A.031) Pretrial diversion is an alternative to prosecution which seeks to divert certain offenders with no prior offences from traditional criminal justice processing into a program of supervision and services. In the majority of cases, offenders are diverted at the pre-charge stage. Participants who successfully complete the program will not be charged or, if charged, will have the charges against them dismissed; unsuccessful participants are returned for prosecution. (See: US Attorney Criminal Resource Manual, Ch. 9.22.000)
  • Legislation should include a provision which states that the survivor may challenge the prosecutor’s decision to discontinue the case. (See: Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe, Resolution 1691 (2009).)

Drug screening

Legislation should establish guidelines for warranted drug screening to detect surreptitious drugging of survivors with substances known in some places as “rape drugs.” Legislation should require law enforcement officers to fully inform survivors who are supplying blood or urine for drug screening that full drug screening might detect illegal substances.

Use of interpreters

Legislation should require that interpreters who have been trained to work with survivors of sexual assault, harassment, and stalking be utilized at all stages of response, investigation, and prosecution of sexual assault cases. Interpreters should be required for language interpretation and for the deaf or hard of hearing and the visually impaired.

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