Barriers to reporting GBV to formal institutions

CHAPTER 5: JUSTICE MECHANISMS – CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN COMPLEX SETTINGS

International standards and national laws and action plans have increased opportunities for women to seek justice for GBV. Nonetheless, they are just the first steps to improving justice outcomes for women. Barriers persist, hindering justice for survivors of GBV.

BARRIERS TO REPORTING GBV TO FORMAL INSTITUTIONS

Most women never report the violence they experience to the formal justice system.279 Among the few who do formally report, women and girls often withdraw their complaints before they are able to make it all the way through the criminal justice systems.

Key informant interviews and focus group discussions conducted for this study highlighted a myriad of factors that contribute to underreporting: SOCIAL NORMS AND COMMUNITY PRESSURE

“Survivors or their families don’t want to disclose the case of rape because of shame and fear of a negative reaction from the community. The perpetrator mostly escapes, but sometimes when the community becomes aware of the case, they either stone him or submit him to the police.”

- Key informant from a CSO in Afghanistan

Patriarchal social norms that permeate families and communities negatively impact both women’s likelihood of experiencing violence, and how she accesses justice in the wake of violence. In South Sudan, society gives paramount importance to men’s voices – as one informant highlighted: “If the man says no, no one will say yes.” Women are often considered the property of their husbands and, to some degree, of their communities. Key informants report that social norms in South Sudan tend to promote acceptability by both men and women of IPV, including marital rape.280 Men are viewed as having

the right to have sex with their wives whenever they like. If a woman wants to report violence by a partner, she is sometimes expected to first share it with her in-laws before reporting it externally. Emphasis is placed on maintaining peace within the family, with brothers and uncles sometimes serving as mediators in situations where a woman has experienced violence from her partner. As one informant shared, “Men’s reputation comes first”, and women and girls who experience violence are expected to stay silent for fear of harming the man’s reputation. There is also significant stigma attached to sexual violence, which makes women and girls who have been raped less likely to report the incident.

In the Philippines, victim blaming and normalization of violence prevents survivors from reporting cases of violence. For example, key informants interviewed for this study explained that barangay officers can be hesitant to issue barangay protection orders because they believe that violence in the couple is just a “normal fight between husband and wife” (nag-aaway lang yung asawa).281 In small communities where barangay officials may be closely affiliated to the perpetrators or in places where barangay officials are less sensitive to gender power dynamics, there’s a lower probability that women will seek help or ask for barangay protection orders.

The CHRP has also received complaints of judges telling women that the case is a domestic dispute (away-bahay ‘to). The use of offensive, gender-insensitive language is still prevalent, with some judges asking survivors of rape or sexual harassment “nag-enjoy ka ba” – did you enjoy it? Prosecutors and judges sometimes push for reconciliation between the survivor and the perpetrator to bring the family together again, reminding them of their solemn vows as spouses. The prosecutors in many cases will attempt to reconcile both parties. If the prosecutor fails to do so, the judge will also try to do so. Informants also mentioned that judges who are devout Catholics sometimes quote scripture from the Bible when trying to reunify a survivor and perpetrator.

Transgender women also face immense discrimination due to social and cultural attitudes. In the Philippines, society does not view transgender women as women, or what they experience as violence. The CHRP, interviewed for this study, has received anecdotal reports that rape complaints of transgender women were dismissed by the police, with the police sometimes indicating that transgender women asked for it or put themselves at risk (“hindi ba iyon ang gusto nila?” – isn’t that what they want?). The lack of gendersensitive attitudes and training of officials represents broader societal stereotypes and greatly hampers survivors’ access to justice.

During a focus group discussion, a group of lawyers who were interviewed for this study in Tunisia described how women and girls who are victims of sexual violence are subject to other forms of violence from the family (rejection, physical violence, etc.). Women are punished, and sometimes beaten by the men of the family who are considered guardians of the family honour and may deem the victims dishonourable. It is this fear of reprisals that locks women and girls into silence and constitutes a major obstacle to denouncing sexual violence.

Women and girls in Afghanistan also face family pressure not to report incidents of violence. Not only might family members

dissuade a survivor from reporting the violence, but informants also described other, more severe consequences for reporting violence:

“The main challenges that survivors face in reporting their cases is their family. Family members are the first ones who will tell her not to file a complaint. That this will not give a good image and will be bad for her family. They try to convince her not to report the violence, to avoid having a bad reputation in society. Due to these norms and attitudes, they will not be able to go to the justice sector.”

- Key informant from the Government of Afghanistan

“In the cases that we witnessed normally when a girl or a woman is in this situation, they are very traumatized – if their family become aware of the situation, she may get killed or the family may take revenge on the boy’s family.”

- Key informant from a CSO in Afghanistan

In PNG, survivors are also hesitant to report violence because it is seen as a family matter that must be resolved within the accepted customary system. This is the case in particular in marriages involving the payment of a bride price, where the husband’s family may perceive the wife as property.282

WITHDRAWAL OF REPORTS

Even when survivors do report violence, these are often withdrawn before they are tried or resolved in courts. Informants in Honduras shared that survivors often drop charges due to economic and family pressures. By law, even if the victim does not want to file the report, the case should be remitted to the prosecutor for follow up. Police interviews, however, indicated that if survivors did not want to press charges, the case could not continue. This treatment of GBV cases reflects the cultural norms that still surround violence cases in Honduras. As a member of a CSO mentioned:

“If there were political will, this type of violence would be strictly of public order and could not be resolved through reconciliation. Because in the end, when the possibility of reconciliation is allowed, it implies that deep down we continue to see the issue of violence against women as a private matter. That it can be reconciled if the victim wants it, but we are talking about a victim with an impact that is not only physical, it is psychological, economic, with a dependence in all senses on her aggressor. And the State cannot allow that.“

- Key informant from a CSO in Honduras

Withdrawal of survivors’ reports of violence was also cited as a key barrier to justice in South Sudan, PNG and Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, elements of the special LEVAW actually promote the withdrawal of complaints.283 Per the law, without the victim´s complaint, some “minor” GBV crimes cannot be prosecuted.

FEAR OF REPRISALS

Survivors may also fear retribution or reprisal if they formally report GBV. In South Sudan, a key problem identified by respondents in this study is the protection of survivors and others connected to a GBV case. Survivors, witnesses, family members and others fear retribution by the perpetrator if a survivor reports GBV, further compelling the survivor to keep silent. There are few protections in place to keep survivors safe. There is no system available for survivors to access protection orders. If a survivor has reported IPV, she may have to rely on her parents or family members to keep her safe.

LACK OF ECONOMIC RESOURCES

Women’s lack of economic resources limits GBV survivors’ access to justice. When women choose to report GBV, often (particularly in IPV cases) they leave their home for their own safety while the proceedings unfold. Women may have trouble supporting themselves financially while removed from their marital home, and sometimes survivors will stay with their parents while this takes place. Informants in this study described how access to transportation to and from the court can also be a challenge, especially in contexts like PNG where there is a substantial divide between urban and rural settings.

The cost of a lawyer was identified as an additional barrier for GBV survivors seeking justice. Some women’s organizations offer pro bono access to lawyers for GBV survivors (such as the Federation of Women Lawyers, Women Development Group, and Steward Women in South Sudan). When a survivor is able to obtain a lawyer, there can still be challenges with lawyers’ capacity related to GBV given the differences in lawyers’ legal background and education. In the Philippines, it is hard to find lawyers who will handle cases of GBV and support the prosecution of the case. If a lawyer is not available, CHRP highlights that the case will then rely solely on the prosecutor, who may trivialize the violence, be impatient with a survivor’s reluctance to pursue the case and fail to understand that survivors of violence may second guess decisions to file a case. Some perpetrators avail of the legal services of the Public Attorney’s Office. In cases where the perpetrator has approached the Public Attorney’s Office first, the Office is precluded from offering services to the survivor, if requested.

DISTRUST OF FORMAL INSTITUTIONS

Survivors’ distrust of state justice institutions can also hinder willingness to report GBV. For example, though Honduras has a relatively strong legal framework in place, a survey conducted by OXFAM found that over half of those surveyed do not trust the Prosecutor’s Office (56 per cent), the Supreme Court of Justice (56 per cent) or the National Police (59 per cent).284 A key barrier to trust in institutions is the high level of impunity in the resolution of cases related to GBV and femicide, as survivors do not believe that they will receive proper protection or that their access to justice is guaranteed.285 As one key informant shared:

“The problem is that small reforms are made, which allows the Government to send a message: we have a protocol for action on femicide, we’ve included

the definition of femicide in the penal code, we have a special prosecutor’s office for women. But the special prosecutor’s office for women has fewer resources, fewer capacities, and fewer powers, and femicides are investigated together with other types of unspecialized crimes. Behind all this is a structure that maintains the situation: that re-victimizes, that does not investigate, that maintains impunity, that does not have enough resources.”

- Key informant from a CSO in Honduras

Similarly, in interviews with civil society actors for this study, several informants were of the opinion that South Sudanese survivors also lack faith in the criminal justice system. This is in part because many of the same actors who are now enforcing justice through the formal system committed acts of GBV during the conflict. Informants report seeing very few GBV perpetrators facing any sort of meaningful accountability through the formal justice system, further disincentivizing survivors to report.

LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF LAWS AND SERVICES

“Women who live in villages do not even have information about their basic rights. They are depending on men, they don’t know about organizations that work for women and they are afraid to go to the police because of male dominance, they don’t trust the police.”

- Key informant, government official in Afghanistan

Survivors may be unaware of the full scope of rights women and girls enjoy under the law. In Tunisia, in spite of public awareness campaigns and increased advocacy during global milestones such as the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, there is low awareness among survivors of laws available to protect them (including the crucial Law #58, passed in 2017).

Knowledge of where and how to report GBV is also a constraint. This was reported across the focus country contexts. For example, in South Sudan, where illiteracy rates across the country are high, survivors face additional challenges in understanding laws or services that could support them. Sometimes, if a girl is educated, her bride price may be reduced in South Sudan, so parents may forgo furthering their daughters’ education as a means of maintaining bride price. Some parents may view other risks in sending daughters to school:

“Girls are restricted from education simply because their parents think that if they are taken to school, they will get spoilt and therefore will not bring the expected dowry to the family. Girls who grow up in cattle camps are expected to be married for a lot of cows.”

- Key informant in Rumbek286