The third issue — assisting victims — seems to receive less empha...

The third issue — assisting victims — seems to receive less emphasis in the report. Indeed, in order to ensure that reprisals or retribution undertaken in the pursuit of justice do not become an end in themselves, it is necessary to keep the focus on reparation for victims. It is essential that victims be afforded every assistance,whereas, on the contrary, all too frequently victims of sexual assault become ostracized by their communities, especially those who report sexual violence or those who have become pregnant as a result of rape. Particularly disturbing in that context is the revictimization of a woman or girl who has been raped when she is forced to live with her aggressor as a so-called wife.