Report says survivors of sexual violence in South Asia struggle to access compensation

A new SAMAJ report says survivors across South Asia face underfunded, inconsistent and hard-to-navigate compensation systems despite legal guarantees. The findings point to major gaps in Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Nepal and India, and call for national victim funds, emergency support and stronger enforcement.

Why it matters: - Survivors of sexual violence often face medical, legal and transport costs immediately after abuse, then lose income, education or livelihoods over time. - Compensation can be the difference between pursuing justice and dropping a case, especially when survivors need emergency support before a conviction. - The report says weak compensation systems can push survivors toward informal settlements and let perpetrators avoid accountability.

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 systems in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. - SAMAJ says many systems are underfunded, inconsistently implemented and difficult to navigate. - The coalition includes 27 individuals and organizations from across South Asia and was formed in 2024.

The details: - Survivors may need compensation for emergency medical treatment, counselling, transport, legal assistance and relocation. - Long investigations, trials and administrative delays often force survivors to carry the financial burden of seeking justice. - A lack of awareness among survivors and justice officials, low conviction rates and slow disbursement of funds add to the barriers. - In the absence of interim support, survivors may have to choose between a costly legal process and pressured out-of-court settlements. - 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 has no national victim compensation fund. - Dalit and Adivasi women, Indigenous women, religious minorities and children born as a result of rape face extra barriers linked to discrimination, poverty and social exclusion. - Women with disabilities often face inaccessible information, police stations, courts and government offices. - In the Maldives, forensic services, counsellors, shelters and legal aid are concentrated in Malé and a few other urban centers. - The Maldives has around 200 inhabited islands, which adds logistical and cost barriers to timely medical and forensic documentation. - Sri Lanka has a statutory Victims' Assistance and Protection Fund, but access to services and compensation remains uneven. - Survivors in conflict-affected areas, Tamil communities and other marginalized groups in Sri Lanka face particular difficulty obtaining assistance and reparations. - In Nepal, survivors of the 1996-2006 civil war remain largely excluded from compensation because no legal mechanism for conflict-era reparation exists. - India and Nepal are presented as the region's strongest models because compensation there does not depend on a criminal conviction. - Nepal's Crime Victim Protection Act 2018 consolidates victims' rights and creates a central Victim Relief Fund. - India uses state-funded compensation schemes, Legal Services Authorities and constitutional jurisprudence that recognizes compensation as an enforceable right. - India's Supreme Court recently directed courts nationwide to consider compensation in all sexual offence cases after finding the laws were not being implemented as intended. - 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 justice issue, not just a welfare benefit. - It also suggests geography, disability and caste or ethnic discrimination shape whether survivors can actually access rights on paper. - India and Nepal appear to show that more workable systems are possible even without unlimited resources.

What's next: - SAMAJ is calling on governments in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives to create national victim compensation funds that do not depend on a criminal conviction. - The coalition also wants interim payment systems so survivors can get emergency help for medical care, psychosocial support and transport. - SAMAJ urges stronger enforcement of court-ordered compensation, annual public data on awards and payments, and more standardized victim fund rules. - The coalition wants information and processes in local languages and accessible formats. - SAMAJ is also pressing Nepal and Sri Lanka to create explicit reparations frameworks for conflict-related sexual violence. - Divya Srinivasan of Equality Now, SAMAJ's secretariat and co-founder, said governments should legislate where laws are missing and fund and enforce them where they already exist.

The bottom line: - Across South Asia, the report says compensation for survivors of sexual violence is often a legal promise without a practical path to payment.