Claim for Compensation of a Rape Victim under the Victim Support Act

Facts

The complainant, [X.] , reported to an employee of the personnel department of the University Hospital Zurich in February 1998 that she had been raped by a colleague, [A.] , in July 1996. She also alleged sexual harassment by her supervisor [B.] and team leader [C.] . The University Hospital Zurich commissioned lawyer Jeanne DuBois to investigate the allegations. As part of this investigation, [X.] , [A.] , and [B.] were interviewed. The University Hospital Zurich terminated its employment relationship with [A.] , against which he appealed to the Health Directorate of the Canton of Zurich. [X.] testified as a witness before the conciliation board and adhered to her description of the facts. The conciliation procedure did not lead to an agreement between the parties. The Health Directorate filed a criminal complaint against [A.] , but the criminal proceedings were discontinued after [X.] exercised her right to refuse testimony. [X.] applied for compensation benefits of CHF 20,000.-- from the Cantonal Victim Support Office, which were rejected. The Social Insurance Court of the Canton of Zurich dismissed the appeal lodged against this decision.

[X.] filed an administrative appeal with the Federal Supreme Court and requested that the contested decision be set aside and that she be granted compensation of CHF 20,000.--. The Cantonal Victim Support Office requested dismissal of the administrative appeal.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court examined whether the Social Insurance Court, by dismissing the appeal, had violated its duty to investigate ex officio under Art. 16 para. 2 VSA. It found that the Social Insurance Court had assumed that the sole statements of the victim were not sufficient to prove a criminal offense. However, the Federal Supreme Court found that this was not the case, as even in criminal law, a single credible witness statement can be sufficient to prove a criminal act.

The Federal Supreme Court further stated that the victim support authority and the court can use written documents to prove a criminal offense. It is a matter of evidence assessment whether these are sufficient to prove a criminal offense within the meaning of Art. 2 VSA. In the present case, the documents from the…