Exemption of victims of sexual violence from legal fees in the DRC: Civil society and media associations organized a march in support of the work to review and adopt the bill on the exemption of victims of sexual violence from the various costs of justice, which had been adopted by the National Assembly on May 18 and submitted to the upper house of parliament for a second reading.
The lack of access to justice for victims of sexual violence is often due to the requirement of the related costs, which, unfortunately, continues to reduce these victims to silence and contributes to the sustainability of these despicable acts. This bill is therefore essential to rehabilitate the honor and dignity of Congolese women.
The associations request the office of the Office of the Senate to schedule the examination of the said proposal before the close of the current session and encourage the honorable senators to adopt it unanimously. They also requested the special attention of the President of the Republic when they are submitted to him for promulgation.
Organizations such as CAFCO, UCOFEM, CREEIJ Asbl, Rslf, AFEJUCO, took part in this march which aims to encourage political leaders to support and defend the interests of Congolese women, victims of sexual violence.
This parliamentary initiative should be a concrete reality to guarantee the exemption of legal fees for survivors of sexual violence.
The associations also expressed their thanks to the national deputies of the National Assembly for having, after careful examination, unanimously adopted the bill