India's
Supreme Court has directed all the country's states to formulate a
uniform policy to provide compensation to victims of rape and other
forms of sexual assault, saying such aid was crucial for a survivor's
rehabilitation.
Conservative and
patriarchal attitudes in India mean victims of sexual assault are often
shunned by their families and communities and blamed for the violence
perpetrated against them, say activists and lawyers.
Many
are ostracised from their homes and cannot afford the legal fees to
fight for justice in an under-resourced judicial system where verdicts
can still take years to reach.
India's 29 states
and seven union territories vary in how they provide support to sexual
assault victims, with some states such as Maharashtra in the west
providing no formal financial aid, while others such as Goa providing up
to one million rupees ($14,620), said the court order.
"All
the states and union territories shall make all endeavours to formulate
a uniform scheme for providing victim compensation in respect of
rape/sexual exploitation," said an order by a division bench made up of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and Arun Mishra.
"Indisputably,
no amount of money can restore the dignity and confidence that the
accused took away from the victim. No amount of money can erase the
trauma and grief the victim suffers. This aid can be crucial with
aftermath of crime."
The top court passed the
order on Thursday after hearing a plea filed by a convicted man in the
central state of Chhattisgarh challenging a seven year jail term for
sexually exploiting a blind girl with a false promise of marriage.
The
bench dismissed the plea and ordered the Chhattisgarh government to pay
the victim 8,000 rupees ($116) monthly for the rest of her life.
The
number of rapes in India rose by 9 percent to 33,707 in 2014, according
to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
A
wave of public protests after the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi
bus in December 2012 forced the government to enact stiffer penalties
on gender crimes.
This included the death sentence
for repeat rape offenders, criminalising stalking and voyeurism, and
making acid attacks and human trafficking specific offences.
Since
then, a spike in media reports, government campaigns and civil society
programmes have increased public awareness of women's rights and
emboldened victims to register abuses.
But women's
rights groups say the figures are still gross underestimates as many
victims remain reluctant due to social and financial pressures.
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