Reparation of Sexual and Reproductive Violence: Moving from Codification to Implementation

  • Colleen Duggan and Ruth Jacobson

Summary

Our analysis is undertaken on the understanding that those who have been victims of sexual and reproductive violence can never be fully compensated for the horrors they have experienced and the grave emotional, spiritual, and material losses they have suffered and continue to endure. However, we contend that well-conceived measures for reparation could achieve three modest yet significant goals. First, reparations could provide some degree of compensation and rehabilitation (albeit imperfect) to victims of SRV. Second, reparations measures could play a significant role in stopping what we call ‘the domino effect,’ whereby an act of SRV, especially when perpetrated against women, sets off a chain reaction that precipitates further losses and in many society prejudices ‘women’s physical safety and well-being, social reintegration and status, economic survival and eligibility for marriage.’ Third, discussions about state reparations policies could encourage discussions about structural reforms not only for the sake of victims but also for future generations of women and girls, thus contributing to guarantees of nonrepetition.

Citation

Duggan, Colleen and Ruth Jacobson.”Reparation of Sexual and Reproductive Violence: Moving from Codification to Implementation.” In The Gender of Reparations: Unsettling Sexual Hierarchies While Redressing Human Rights Violations, edited by Ruth Rubio-Marin, 121-61. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

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