Rape victims still facing barriers to justice in India: HRW

New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Five years after the Nirbhaya gang rape case in Delhi, rape victims are still facing barriers to getting justice in India, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.

Rape survivors in India face significant barriers to obtaining justice and critical support services despite legal and other reforms adopted since the December 16, 2012 gang rape-murder of a 19-year-old physiotherapy intern in the national capital, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', said the international human rights NGO in an 82-page report "Everyone Blames Me: Barriers to Justice and Support Services for Sexual Assault Survivors in India" released on Wednesday.

The report said women and girls who survived rape and other sexual violence often suffered humiliation at police stations and hospitals.

"Police are frequently unwilling to register complaints, victims and witnesses receive little protection, and medical professionals still compel degrading 'two-finger' tests. These obstacles to justice and dignity are compounded by inadequate healthcare, counselling, and legal support for victims during criminal trials of the accused," an HRW statement said.

"Five years ago, Indians shocked by the brutality of the gang rape in Delhi, called for an end to the silence around sexual violence and demanded criminal justice reforms," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director of HRW.

"Today, there are stronger laws and policies, but much remains to be done to ensure that police, doctors, and courts treat survivors with dignity," she said.

The HRW said it conducted field research and interviews in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan -- selected because of their large number of reported rape cases -- as well as Delhi and Mumbai.

The report details 21 cases -- 10 cases involving girls under the age of 18.

The findings are drawn from more than 65 interviews with victims, their family members, lawyers, human rights activists, doctors, forensic experts, and government and police officials, as well as research by Indian organisations.

"Under the Indian law, police officers who fail to register a complaint of sexual assault face up to two years in prison. However, Human Rights Watch found that police did not always file a First Information Report (FIR), the first step to initiating a police investigation, especially if the victim was from an economically or socially marginalised community.

"In several cases, the police resisted filing the FIR or pressured the victim's family to 'settle' or 'compromise', particularly if the accused was from a powerful family or community," the statement said.

It said that lack of witness protection law in India makes rape survivors and witnesses vulnerable to pressure that undermines prosecutions.

The human rights body said that some defence lawyers and judges still use language in courtrooms that is "biased and derogatory" toward sexual assault survivors.

"The attempt at shaming the victim is still very much prevalent in the courts," Rebecca Mammen John, a senior criminal lawyer in Delhi, was quoted in the statement.