A/HRC/47/26 98. Pursuing a criminal case against a perpetrator can take a heavy toll on rape victims. Revictimization can occur as they relive traumatic experiences and suffer victim-blaming biases that still permeate societies and criminal legal systems. 99. According to the responses to the questionnaire, several States have passed legislation to include rape shield provisions, which are aimed at preventing the use of a victim’s sexual history to undermine the credibility of their claims.64 100. The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations: (a) The victim’s testimony, supported by a physical and psychological assessment of harm and assessed alongside existing evidence, should not require further corroboration to be considered as proof; (b) States should enact rape shield provisions to exclude from evidence information a victim’s sexual history; (c) States should take other measures to support the victim and protect the victim’s privacy, avoid contact between victim and perpetrator, enable the victim to testify in the courtroom without being present or at least without the presence of the alleged perpetrator (notably through the use of communications technologies), provide legal assistance, provide interpreters when needed, and inform victims if a perpetrator escapes or is released. 3. Statute of limitation, extraterritorial application and data 101. In most States, statutes of limitation as a provision of criminal procedural law preclude the prosecution of rape after a certain period, usually set at the level of the maximum duration of sanctions for the crime. 102. According to data at hand, there is no statute of limitation for the prosecution of rape in the following 15 States: Bangladesh, Canada, Cyprus, Ghana, Hungary, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Netherlands, Pakistan, South Africa and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In the majority of States, however, statutes of limitation are in place. 103. Some States have particularly short statutes of limitation, precluding victims’ access to justice. For example, it is three months in Iraq, and one year in Italy, Nepal and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). 104. In cases involving child victims, some States eliminate statutes of limitation that apply to adults.65 In others, statutes of limitation begin to run after the child reaches adulthood.66 Other States determine specific ages up to which a child victim may report rape. In Finland, such reporting is possible until the age of 28, and in Poland, 30. In Switzerland, a victim may report until the age of 25 (if they were older than 12 and younger than 18 at the time of the assault). Lastly, rape may be prosecuted in Colombia up to 20 years and in France and Togo up to 30 years after the victim reaches adulthood. 105. The criminalization of rape should include extraterritorial application, as otherwise prosecution may be precluded in cases of rape committed by citizens in other States, including citizens serving as international or uniformed personnel connected to the United Nations and other international organizations. 106. Although there is a lack of comparable data, available data reveals high attrition rates in the prosecution of rape, reflecting the small percentage of reported cases that are investigated, prosecuted and ultimately result in convictions. Sweden has a conviction rate of 4.6 per cent for the period 2014–2018, while Nigeria secured convictions in only 0.9 per 64 65 66 Canada, Colombia, Czechia, Ecuador, Eswatini, India, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Mali and Switzerland. In the case of Switzerland, the statute of limitation is eliminated if the victim was younger than 12. Armenia, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Colombia, France, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Monaco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey. In the case of Bolivia (Plurinational State of) and Nepal, the statutes begin to run four years and one year after the victim reaches adulthood, respectively. 17