Reparation to victims of sexual violence: Possibilities at the International Criminal Court and at the trust fund for victims and their families.

Source: (-0001) Leiden Journal of International Law. 20(1): 207-237.

In this contribution the reparation possibilities for victims of sexual violence at the International
Criminal Court and at the Trust Fund for Victims and their families are explored. This
is done by explaining first of all why victims of sexual violence – and especially women – are
in urgent need of reparation during and after conflict, with a special focus on the situation of
female survivors of sexual violence inRwanda. Thereparation possibilities for victims of sexual
violence at the International CriminalTribunal for the formerYugoslavia andthe International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda are subsequently discussed, followed by a similar discussion
with regard to the ICC. Questions such as the nature of the best forms of reparation for victims
of sexual violence and at what point they are made are also dealt with. Although the ICC
reparations regime offers in theory a good means of providing restorative justice to victims
of sexual violence, it is important that the special concerns and needs of such victims are not
easily overlooked by the Court and that swift action is taken by the Trust Fund for Victims and
their families to address their plight. (Author’s abstract)