PART 5.
RIGHT TO
REPARATION
Three women victims of sexual violence in the Camp Mugunga 3,
August 2013, Democratic Republic of Congo.
© Habibou Bangre / AFP.
A. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
53. Right to reparation
States must take the necessary legislative and other measures required to guarantee access to appropriate,
efficient, accessible, timeous and long-lasting reparation for injury and loss suffered by victims of sexual
violence, as well as access to appropriate information regarding reparation mechanisms. The reparations
must be proportional to the seriousness of the violation and injury undergone. Court-ordered and/or
administrative reparation must be granted to the victims of sexual violence. States must grant reparation
to the victims for acts or omissions for which the States are responsible or for which a physical person or
entity is responsible in cases where the latter are not able to or do not agree to repair the injury.
54. Enforcement of reparation orders
States must ensure the enforcement of the reparation orders issued by their national courts against the
perpetrators of sexual violence. States must also strive to ensure that decisions to provide reparation that
are qualified as res judicata and handed down by foreign courts are enforced according to their internal
law and international legal obligations. To that end, in their internal legislation, States must provide for
effective mechanisms to ensure the enforcement of decisions to provide reparation.
55. National funds
55. 1. To facilitate the access to reparation for victims, States must create, strengthen and/or encourage
the establishment of national funds which can benefit victims of sexual violence in priority. A specially
dedicated national fund, for reparation for victims of acts of sexual violence, must be created where
possible. To be effective, these mechanisms must be appropriately financed by States, their technical
and financial partners, private sector stakeholders, and if possible, by the perpetrators of the violence.
GUIDELINES ON COMBATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA
41