Gender-Based Violence

Background

Since 1991, with funding from the Department of State, OPDAT has provided expert assistance and case-based mentoring to foreign counterparts to develop justice systems that can combat transnational crime, corruption, and terrorism consistent with international and regional conventions, protocols, and standards.  In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of related crime throughout the world, OPDAT provides foreign counterparts with tailored assistance and case-based mentoring – within the scope of its authorized activities – to help detect, investigate and prosecute wrongdoing related to the pandemic, including gender-based / domestic violence (GBV / DV). In order to do so, OPDAT draws upon criminal justice experts with related expertise.

Addressing GBV in Central and Eastern Europe

OPDAT works with justice sector institutions and civil society organizations to help prevent and respond to GBV (including DV, sexual violence, and wartime sexual violence), as well as to provide support and protection to  GBV survivors.  OPDAT builds the skills of police and prosecutors to employ a survivor-centered approach to DV cases through training on victim identification, the modalities of intimate partner violence, and the impact of trauma on victim testimony and law enforcement interaction. 

OPDAT also works with judges across the region to evaluate psychological and economic harm, in addition to physical violence, and to adapt court proceedings to the needs of vulnerable victims.  OPDAT further assists countries to develop and implement victim compensation systems, develops guidance on sentencing practices in GBV cases, and advocates for the adoption of legislation to criminalize all forms of GBV.

OPDAT’s Western Balkans Regional Platform brought together police, prosecutors, judges, and victim advocates from across the Western Balkans for a series of programs to share experiences in working with vulnerable victims to successfully investigate and prosecute GBV.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, OPDAT works with local prosecutors, judges, and NGOs to promote best-practices in victim-centered investigations and prosecutions. OPDAT’s Bosnian partners who consistently participate in OPDAT programming have become strong advocates for strict punishment and speedy disposition of all DV cases. 

In Albania and Kosovo, OPDAT facilitated the training and placement of victim advocates within each of the country’s prosecution offices.

Also in Kosovo, OPDAT’s legislative advocacy resulted in the addition of a new DV provision to the Criminal Code.  OPDAT conducts skill building programs for police, prosecutors, victim advocates, and shelter workers on trauma-informed service provision to DV survivors.  OPDAT also facilitated the passage of a crime victim compensation law, the first of its kind for the region, and provides institutional guidance to the Crime Victim Compensation Committee on evaluating claims.  To address weak sentencing in DV and sexual violence cases, OPDAT developed sentencing guidelines which Kosovo’s Supreme Court adopted  and provided training to every judge and prosecutor in the country on the use of the guidelines.  OPDAT further provides case-based mentorship and training to prosecutors handling sensitive wartime sexual violence investigations.  In the first case of its kind, in July 2021, the Special Department of the Pristina Basic Court convicted a Serbian police officer for wartime sexual assault in connection with his actions during the Kosovo Conflict of 1998-99.    

Addressing GBV in Africa

In Africa, OPDAT’s capacity building focuses on GBV on an ad hoc basis.  For example, the OPDAT liaison to the DoD’s AFRICOM spoke at a GBV workshop in the Seychelles.  OPDAT was asked to speak on the application of trauma informed care in the justice system and justice system best practices in dealing with violence between intimate partners.  Relatedly, before the 2020 military seizure of power in Mali, OPDAT, in partnership with the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , helped build Malian prosecutors and judges’ capacity to combat sextortion and online sexual exploitation of children, including during the pandemic.

Addressing GBV in Latin America

In El Salvador, OPDAT works to incorporate a gender perspective in the decision-making process for judges, prosecutors, police, psychologists, and social workers.  El Salvador struggles to combat and reduce gender-based violence.  A culture of tolerance for violence against women, weak enforcement, combined with the use of violence against women by gang members to control create a culture of impunity. Additionally, statistics show that violence against women increased dramatically during the COVID-19 lockdowns. OPDAT provides justice sector actors the tools they need to respond to reports of gender-based violence in El Salvador.

OPDAT also works closely with GBV-focused counterparts in the Salvadoran Special Court for a Life Free of Violence and Discrimination for Women to organize working groups and roundtable discussions to improve litigation and investigative techniques as well as the incorporation of a gender perspective into their work. As a result, counterparts have demonstrated an increased capacity to investigate, prosecute and adjudicate complex matters involving GBV with notable results, including convictions for feminicide.

In 2022, OPDAT resumed its monthly working group meetings for justice sector actors, who handle GBV cases, to standardize responses by justice sector actors to reports of GBV.  Additionally, OPDAT is supporting interinstitutional efforts to develop a “one-stop-shop” approach to providing effective victim services. 

OPDAT’s Judicial Studies Institute (JSI) created a workshop focused on judicial decision making with a gender perspective for Latin American judges.  JSI also hosted programs on best practices for managing cases without gender bias and how to handle gender violence cases.  JSI increased the capacity of Latin American judges to adjudicate domestic violence cases, including handling evidentiary issues, victim’s rights, and protective orders during pre-trial hearings.  JSI designed two new special courses dedicated to topics related to trafficking in persons, human smuggling, and judging without gender bias.  The main objective of these new special courses is to provide participant judges with substantive legal knowledge on trafficking in persons and gender bias issues as well as best practices to manage and adjudicate these complex cases.

In Mexico, OPDAT’s anti-human trafficking program includes a focus on child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and child sex tourism, as well as providing support to prosecutors through case-based mentoring and training. Additionally, OPDAT Mexico supports the implementation of Mexico’s AMBER Alert program to quickly respond to cases of missing children. This model has been replicated within Mexico to create a networked response to cases of missing women, which is an issue closely tied to GBV as many missing women are later found murdered.

Addressing GBV in Asia

Historically, in Bangladesh, OPDAT has addressed GBV:  In 2022, OPDAT organized a roundtable discussion on GBV with leading female voices in the Bangladeshi justice sector, including judges and public prosecutors to discuss necessary amendments to existing criminal laws.  In addition, OPDAT is organizing the creation of bench books for judges adjudicating GBV cases.

In Nepal, the RLA works with the relevant government actors, NGOs and the legal community to identify access to justice issues for victims of gender-based violence (GBV).  OPDAT, will host a two-day conference in February 2023 to bring together relevant government and civil society actors to tackle under-reporting, gaps in and poor coordination of services to GBV victims, and developing best practices.  The RLA is also working on a coordinated CTIP strategy with Embassy Kathmandu partners on GBV issues, including legislative review and capacity building to law enforcement working on GBV and CTIP matters. 

In Maldives, OPDAT conducts roundtable consultations on GBV/DV with government and non-government stakeholders. These consultations have led to grassroots efforts by civil society organizations to develop a country-wide coalition to connect and coordinate services and resources to persons at risk of, and have been subjected to, gender-based violence and/or domestic violence. OPDAT is also the convener of informal engagement between police, prosecutors, and victim services to improve identification, response, and restoration of persons who have experienced GBV/DV.