Ineffectiveness of the Right to Compensation for Victims of Sexual Violence: A Comparison Between Five EU Member States

Abstract

In EU Member States, victims of sexual violence can seek justice through financial compensation in several ways: offender payments through an adhesion process (route 1), state payment schemes (route 2), and civil litigation (route 3). This paper examines policies and practices in five countries (the Netherlands, Latvia, Spain, Italy and Greece) and the degree to which they comply with two EU Directives. Policy data were collected via the EU justice portal and verified by local experts. Empirical data on law in practice was sought from criminal court cases and state compensation funds. The analysis consisted of comparing who can apply, what is needed to apply, and what is compensated. Major differences were found between countries. For example, the timeframe to apply for state compensation ranged between three months and 10 years, the numbers of applicants ranged from 10 to 1210, and decision times ranged between two months to ‘without delay’. And while the average offender compensation awarded in Spain was twice as high as in the Netherlands (€13,728 versus €6451), the likelihood of victims receiving the compensation in these two countries was 14% and 100%, respectively, due to lack of effective enforcement in Spain. Because of the substantial variation between countries, and with reference to the European Court of Justice’s 2020 judgment, it was concluded that most of the EU countries examined do currently not comply with the requirement to provide fair and appropriate compensation. It is recommended that accessibility should be improved and that more data is needed.