Overcoming the harm caused to children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence

Abstract

This paper examines the regulation and effectiveness of compliance in Nicaragua with respect to the constitutional right of children and adolescents who are victims of sexual violence to obtain reparation for the harm suffered as a result of the crime. The study investigates the mechanisms, laws, and procedures used to achieve reparation for the harm caused to these victims. As a matter of State policy, Nicaragua has approved and subscribed to numerous national and international regulatory bodies that safeguard these guarantees in criminal proceedings. In doing so, Nicaragua adapts, simplifies, and protects these rights
while fulfi lling its duty to apply restorative justice to the victims. Furthermore, Nicaragua aims to ensure the effective and comprehensive reparation of the damage caused by aggressors. However, despite the various efforts that the State has made in criminal proceedings to ensure effective reparation by the aggressor for the harm caused to the victims, through effective and expeditious mechanisms and procedures, such mechanisms have been insufficient to achieve this reparation for reasons specifi c to the victims themselves, as they will be explained as follows.