The state must provide compensation to rape survivors by establishing a (state) fund, and take responsibility for their health, education and employment so that they don’t feel alienated from the state mechanism. Rights campaigners said that the state should compensate those who need to be compensated. It must be ensured through a different mechanism as the current one is inadequate.
The criminal justice system is not designed in a way to ensure reparation of the victims. A victim will only receive the compensation if the case is proved, where the conviction rate of the rape cases is only one to three percent. Even if the victim manages to secure a conviction, the judge converted the fine into compensation and awarded it to them in only seven percent of the cases. Besides, in the criminal justice system, on average, the court imposed Tk 28,000 as a fine in rape cases, which in no way can be a reasonable amount.
Although the Draft Crime Victim Compensation Act 2007 mentioned that every district must have a committee to deal with the compensation of victims of violent crimes, where victims can apply for compensation from a state fund, it has not been implemented even after 15 years. India made amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2009 to specifically recognise the victim’s right to compensation. If the victim is a child, the state must take the responsibility for their education, and ensure their rehabilitation. Experts underscored the presence of shelter homes and livelihood opportunities for rape survivors and sensitising the judges on the draft act.
Numbers of violence against women rose several times over the years due to near impunity, political buttress of offenders, in absence of moral education, collapse of family values, available and easy access to erotic contents, wiping out value-driven political and social dynamism and many more. All should work integrated way to prevent violence against women and children.
