Para 38) The United Nations country team further noted that victims of war crimes received compensation through civil proceedings following convictions establishing the crimes, a cumbersome and potentially retraumatizing process due to the need to re-establish facts already determined in criminal proceedings. There was no comprehensive system of reparations for victims and survivors, leaving substantial gaps in particular for victims of crimes committed by Serbian forces and of conflict-related sexual violence. Those gaps also resulted from the requirement for victims of conflict-related sexual violence to prove significant physical injuries.
Para 77) The United Nations country team noted that the definition of rape as a criminal offence was not in line with the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and that conviction rates for most forms of violence against women were extremely low.
Para 4) PoCRS stated that, in the previous period, the normative framework for the protection of children from sexual abuse and sexual exploitation was significantly improved, but the legal protection of children was still not fully aligned with the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.