South Asian survivors face major barriers to sexual violence compensation

A new SAMAJ report finds that survivors of sexual violence across South Asia are often blocked from compensation by weak funding, slow legal processes and uneven implementation. The group is urging national victim funds, faster interim support and stronger enforcement in countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives.

Why it matters: - Sexual violence can leave survivors facing medical, legal, transport and housing costs on top of trauma. - In South Asia, compensation is supposed to help cover those losses, but the report says many survivors never receive the money they are legally owed. - The gap pushes some survivors toward informal settlements, delays recovery and can help perpetrators avoid accountability.

What happened: - SAMAJ released The Good Practices Paper on Compensation for Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Asia, a regional report examining compensation systems in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. - The report says compensation schemes are often underfunded, inconsistently applied and difficult to navigate. - Survivors frequently must move through long criminal justice processes before compensation is considered. - Delays in investigations, trials and administrative steps often mean survivors bear the cost of seeking justice themselves.

The details: - Survivors can face immediate expenses for emergency medical treatment, counselling, transport, legal assistance and, in some cases, relocation. - Many also lose income, leave work or school, or see long-term earning potential reduced. - The report cites low awareness of compensation schemes among survivors and justice officials, low conviction rates and slow fund disbursement as major barriers. - When interim financial support is unavailable, survivors may have to choose between an expensive legal process and an informal settlement under pressure. - Coerced out-of-court settlements are widespread across South Asia, according to the report. - In Pakistan, many survivors receive no compensation even after conviction because judges have broad discretion over awards. - In Bangladesh, courts awarded compensation in just 6.8% of reviewed rape cases, and the country has no national victim compensation fund. - Dalit and Adivasi women, Indigenous women, religious minorities and children born as a result of rape face added barriers tied to discrimination, poverty and social exclusion. - Women with disabilities often encounter inaccessible information, facilities and legal processes. - In the Maldives, geography compounds the problem because forensic services, counsellors, shelters and legal aid are concentrated in Malé and a few other urban centers. - The report says limited public data makes it hard to assess whether compensation is reaching survivors in the Maldives. - Sri Lanka has a statutory Victims' Assistance and Protection Fund, but access to services and compensation remains uneven, especially for survivors in conflict-affected areas, Tamil communities and other marginalized groups. - In Nepal, survivors of the 1996-2006 civil war remain largely excluded from compensation because no legal framework for conflict-era reparation has been enacted.

Between the lines: - India and Nepal stand out in the report as the region's most developed models because compensation does not depend on a criminal conviction. - Nepal's Crime Victim Protection Act 2018 centralizes victims' rights and uses a Victim Relief Fund to pay compensation when offenders cannot. - India requires states to fund victim compensation schemes and uses Legal Services Authorities to process claims. - India's Supreme Court recently told courts nationwide to consider compensation in all sexual offence cases after finding implementation gaps. - The report suggests the core problem is not just the existence of laws, but weak execution, uneven access and geography-driven inequality.

What's next: - SAMAJ wants Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives to create national victim compensation funds that do not depend on criminal conviction. - The group is also calling for interim disbursement systems so survivors can get emergency help for medical care, psychosocial support and transport. - Governments should strengthen enforcement of court-ordered compensation, publish annual data and standardize fund guidelines. - SAMAJ also wants information and application processes available in local languages and accessible formats. - The coalition says Nepal and Sri Lanka need explicit reparations frameworks for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

The bottom line: - South Asia has legal promises on compensation, but many survivors still cannot access them. The report argues that faster, better-funded and more accessible systems are needed before compensation can function as a real right rather than a geographic lottery.