Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

V
WOMEN’S ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 71
Respect those rights, vis-à-vis the conduct of State agents
or those whose conduct can be attributed to the State.
Adopt and implement appropriate legal, policy and practical
frameworks addressing State agents and non-state actors.
Ensure that where a violation or abuse has occurred those
responsible are held to account; and, particularly, where
the abuse amounts to a criminal offence, that crime is
effectively and impartially investigated and the perpetrators
are brought to justice through criminal prosecution in fair
trials.
After violence has occurred: Effective remedies and
reparation for violence against women
“States Parties [undertake to]… establish the necessary
legal and administrative mechanisms to ensure that
women subjected to violence have effective access to
restitution, reparations or other just and effective
remedies.” 188
Women subject to violations of their rights should be afforded
the right to an effective remedy and redress. Under general
international law, as well under the specific provisions of
treaties, States must guarantee the right to a prompt,
accessible and effective remedy before an independent
authority, including, where necessary, a judicial authority for
the violation of human rights. 189
Remedies and reparation for violence may take different forms.
The first is the relatively straightforward situation where a
State agent, or actor whose conduct may be attributed to the
State (see above), is directly responsible for the abuse of
188
Convention of Belém do Pará, above note 119, Article 7(g).
189
See International Commission of Jurists, Practitioners Guide No 2,
“The right to a remedy and to reparation for gross human rights
violations” (Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 2006), URL:
http://www.icj.org/the-right-to-a-remedy-and-to-reparation-for-grosshuman-rights-violations/.