South Asian survivors struggle to access sexual violence compensation

A new SAMAJ report says compensation systems across South Asia are underfunded, inconsistent and often inaccessible, leaving many survivors without the financial help they are legally owed. The findings point to major gaps in Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and conflict-affected parts of Nepal, while India and Nepal offer models the region could follow.

Why it matters: - Sexual violence can trigger immediate and long-term financial harm, from medical care and transport to lost income, relocation and reduced earning potential. - Compensation is meant to help survivors recover, but SAMAJ says many systems force people to absorb costs while they wait through lengthy legal processes. - The report argues that emergency support can affect whether survivors pursue formal justice or accept informal settlements under pressure.

What happened: - The South Asian Movement for Accessing Justice, or SAMAJ, released The Good Practices Paper on Compensation for Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Asia. - The report examines compensation schemes in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. - SAMAJ says many survivors cannot access financial assistance they are legally entitled to because systems are underfunded, inconsistently implemented and difficult to navigate.

The details: - Survivors often pay out of pocket for emergency treatment, counselling, transport, legal help and, in some cases, relocation. - Many also lose work or education opportunities and can face long-term income losses. - SAMAJ found that survivors often must move through complex criminal justice processes before compensation becomes available. - Long investigations, trials and administrative delays can leave survivors with little or no support when costs are highest. - Low awareness among survivors and justice officials, low conviction rates and slow fund disbursement create additional barriers. - In Pakistan, many survivors receive no compensation even after a conviction because judges have broad discretion over awards. - In Bangladesh, courts awarded compensation in just 6.8% of reviewed rape cases. - Bangladesh also lacks a national victim compensation fund. - Dalit and Adivasi women, Indigenous women, religious minorities and children born as a result of rape face added discrimination, poverty and social exclusion. - Women with disabilities face barriers when officials do not understand disability-related needs or provide accessible information and facilities. - In the Maldives, support services are concentrated in Malé and a few other urban centers. - The Maldives' island geography adds cost and logistical hurdles to forensic and medical documentation. - Public data on compensation awards in the Maldives remains limited, making outcomes hard to measure. - Sri Lanka has a statutory Victims' Assistance and Protection Fund, but access to support and compensation remains uneven. - Survivors in conflict-affected areas, Tamil communities and other marginalized groups face particular difficulty getting assistance and reparations in Sri Lanka. - In Nepal, survivors of the 1996-2006 civil war remain largely excluded from compensation because no legal mechanism for conflict-era reparation exists. - Nepal's Crime Victim Protection Act 2018 consolidates victims' rights and creates a central Victim Relief Fund. - India's system requires states to fund victim compensation schemes and uses Legal Services Authorities to assess and process claims. - India's constitutional jurisprudence recognizes compensation as an enforceable right. - India's Supreme Court recently directed courts nationwide to consider compensation in all sexual offence cases after finding implementation gaps. - Manjula Pradeep of the National Council of Women Leaders said a Dalit survivor in Uttar Pradesh used government grant assistance to leave home for safety, return to court and pursue a law degree.

Between the lines: - The report frames compensation as a test of whether legal rights exist only on paper or in practice. - India and Nepal stand out because their frameworks do not require a criminal conviction before compensation can be considered. - SAMAJ says geography, discrimination and weak administration can matter as much as the written law. - The contrast between stronger systems and weaker ones suggests that enforcement and funding, not just legislation, determine whether survivors benefit.

What's next: - SAMAJ is calling on governments, donors and civil society to create national victim compensation funds in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives. - The coalition wants interim disbursement mechanisms so survivors can get emergency support for medical care, psychosocial support and transport. - SAMAJ is also urging governments to strengthen enforcement of court-ordered compensation and publish annual data on awards and payments. - The report calls for standardised victim fund guidelines to reduce inconsistency. - It also urges local-language and accessible-format information and processes. - SAMAJ wants explicit reparations frameworks for conflict-related sexual violence in Nepal and Sri Lanka. - Divya Srinivasan of Equality Now said governments should legislate where law is missing and fund and enforce it where it already exists so compensation becomes a reliable right, not a matter of geography.

The bottom line: - South Asia has compensation laws in place, but SAMAJ says survivors still face a gap between legal promise and real access.