Getting to Full Restitution: Guidelines for Court-Ordered Reparations in Cases Involving Sexual Violence Committed during Armed Conflict, Political Violence, or State Repression

Defining court-ordered reparations for victims of sexual violence committed during armed conflict, political violence, or state repression is not an easy task. The challenges only increase when there are few domestic precedents for defining such reparations based on international human rights law or international humanitarian law. However, decisions by international and foreign courts as well as other sources of international law can be useful guidelines and references for domestic judges, lawyers, and advocates in interpreting national law, to determine the coherence between national law and constitutional principles or fundamental rights, to fill in any gaps, or to resolve inconsistencies in national law. Several international instruments and court decisions provide elements for defining each form of reparation, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.