27. 2. These protection orders must be provided at no cost, and should be available for immediate protection,
for a specified period, regardless of whether a complaint is lodged, legal prosecution takes place, or the
perpetrator of the violence is sentenced. Protection orders should be issued on an ex parte basis, where
necessary. To make it easier for victims of sexual violence to access this type of measure, forms to apply for
protection orders must be available at police stations, courts, legal aid or public defender offices, law firms,
legal associations, and at the premises of any other relevant stakeholder.
27. 3. Protection orders may require the perpetrator and the victim to maintain separate residences; the
perpetrator to stay away from the victim or certain places where the victim regularly attends (workplace,
children’s schools, etc.) or refrain from contacting the victim. Protection orders may also prohibit the
perpetrator from possessing firearms and ordering that any firearms or other weapon be surrendered and/
or seized; as well as authorize the victim to conceal the location of her residence, or to have correspondence
for her attention sent to her lawyers’ firm or the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
27. 4. States must take legislative measures or any other measures necessary for all breaches of protection
orders issued under previous paragraphs to be punished, including by criminal sanctions that are effective,
deterrent and proportionate.
Explanatory Notes: Maputo Protocol, Article 16; Istanbul Convention, Article 53; CEDAW Committee, General Recommendation
33, par. 51; United Nations Resolution on Strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against
women, A/RES/65/228, par. 16 (h), 20 (c) (2011)..
C. MEDICAL SUPPORT AND ACCESS TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
28. Type of care
States must provide the victims of sexual violence with medical services to mitigate and/or remedy the
consequences of the violence they have suffered. These services must include but are not limited to
treatment provided by gynecologists, proctologists, and urologists for potential injuries suffered, especially
to treat infections and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and traumatic and obstetric
gynecological fistula; and access to pregnancy tests, contraception (including emergency contraception
that prevents conception), medical abortions, post-abortion care, and psychological support. States must
not require victims to have lodged a complaint or reported the violence to the police before these services
are provided.
Explanatory Notes: Panzi Hospital and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo;
Doctors without Borders, Untreated Violence: The Need for Patient-Centred Care for Survivors of Sexual Violence in the
Platinum Mining Belt (2016).
29. Contraception
States must guarantee that women and girls victims of sexual violence have access to emergency
contraception to enable them to avoid pregnancy (emergency contraception pill (ECP) or IUD), within no
more than five days after the violence occurs. These methods prevent or delay ovulation or prevent the
fertilization of the ovum and are therefore not abortive methods.
Explanatory Notes: World Health Organisation (WHO), Emergency contraception Fact sheet No. 244 (February 2016).
26
GUIDELINES ON COMBATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN AFRICA