South Asia survivors face steep barriers to sexual violence compensation

A new SAMAJ report says survivors of sexual violence across South Asia are legally entitled to compensation but often cannot access it because schemes are underfunded, slow and unevenly enforced. The findings point to major gaps in Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal, while India and Nepal are identified as regional models for reform.

Why it matters: - Sexual violence can trigger immediate medical, legal and transportation costs, plus longer-term losses from missed work, interrupted education and reduced earning potential. - When compensation is hard to reach, survivors may delay care, abandon legal cases or accept informal settlements under pressure. - The report says emergency support and reliable victim funds are central to keeping survivors in the formal justice system and reducing impunity.

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 reviews compensation systems in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. - SAMAJ says many survivors cannot access compensation despite legal guarantees because schemes are underfunded, inconsistently applied and difficult to navigate. - The report was released in Mumbai, India, on July 23, 2026.

The details: - Survivors often must move through investigations, trials and administrative steps before any payment is made. - Delays in those processes can leave survivors paying out of pocket while receiving little or no support. - Other barriers include limited awareness among survivors and justice officials, low conviction rates and slow disbursement of funds. - 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 discrimination, poverty and social exclusion. - Women with disabilities face extra barriers when officials do not understand disability-related needs, information is not accessible, or police stations, courts and government offices are physically inaccessible. - In the Maldives, services such as forensic exams, counselors, shelters and legal aid are concentrated in Malé and a few other urban centers. - The Maldives' island geography creates logistical and cost barriers to timely medical and forensic documentation. - Limited public data on compensation awards makes it hard to assess whether survivors are actually receiving support. - Sri Lanka has a statutory Victims' Assistance and Protection Fund, but access remains uneven 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 mechanism for conflict-era reparations has been enacted. - India and Nepal are the region's strongest examples because both systems allow compensation without requiring a criminal conviction. - Nepal's Crime Victim Protection Act 2018 consolidates victims' rights into one statute and creates a central Victim Relief Fund. - India combines state funding duties, Legal Services Authorities that assess claims and constitutional recognition of compensation as an enforceable right. - India's Supreme Court recently directed courts nationwide to consider compensation in all sexual offense cases after finding implementation gaps. - 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 more than financial relief; it is a practical test of whether justice systems can be used by survivors with limited money, time and mobility. - The clearest pattern across the region is that legal rights mean little when payments depend on conviction, court discretion or complex procedures. - The regional divide also shows that legal design matters. Systems with dedicated funds, interim support and clear claim pathways appear more accessible than those that leave survivors waiting for case outcomes.

What's next: - SAMAJ is calling on governments, donors and civil society groups to create national victim compensation funds in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Maldives. - The coalition wants interim payment systems so survivors can cover medical care, psychosocial support and transport immediately. - SAMAJ also wants stronger enforcement of court-ordered compensation, annual public data on awards and payments, and standardized fund guidelines. - The coalition is urging local-language and accessible formats for information and processes. - SAMAJ is also pressing for explicit reparations frameworks for conflict-related sexual violence in Nepal and Sri Lanka. - Divya Srinivasan of Equality Now, the convenor and secretariat of SAMAJ, said the region must legislate where the law is missing and fund and enforce it where it already exists.

The bottom line: - Across South Asia, compensation for survivors of sexual violence exists on paper far more often than it works in practice.