Barriers to Justice: Rape in Africa, Law, Practice, and Access to Justice

This groundbreaking report on rape in Africa analyzes sexual violence laws and law enforcement practices across 47 countries in Africa against regional and international human rights commitments and best practices.  

What’s inside the report?

• An in-depth analysis of the sexual violence laws in 47 countries in Africa, including compliance with international and regional standards, 
• A deep dive into how laws are implemented in practice across nine countries, including case studies from four of them: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, and Zambia.
• Recommendations for national governments covering: laws, implementation, alignment of laws, support for victims/survivors, public awareness, sexual violence in conflict, and access to justice for victims/survivors with disabilities. 

Who’s it for?

• National and local governments 
• Regional and international human rights bodies 
• Judiciary and law enforcement 
• Civil society organizations 

Explore the full report and summary in English and French.

Key findings: 

• Different jurisdictions have defined rape differently, many placing emphasis on force, morality, or even context. 26 countries in Africa have either restrictive or ambiguous definitions of rape; these definitions restrict the crime of rape to “carnal” or “vaginal or sexual intercourse”.  Rape is criminalized as an offense against morality in 11 countries in Africa. In some instances, definitions have stipulated a combination of these factors in determining whether or not rape was perpetrated, reducing and even eliminating altogether the consent standard and resulting in confusing and inconsistent language.

• Failure to recognize certain violations as rape. Several definitions of rape or legal frameworks proscribing rape failed to recognize all forms of unwanted sexual penetration (anal, oral, or vaginal by use of any body part or object), however slight or no matter the context, as rape. 

• Many jurisdictions have lenient penalties for rape. International standards require that punishment for rape should be effective, proportionate, dissuasive, and commensurate with the real gravity of the crime.

• Survivors across the continent face barriers to accessing compensation or other forms of reparation. Victims/survivors of rape should have access to both criminal and civil remedies and the establishment of effective protection, support, and rehabilitation services. With so many legal, procedural, and societal obstacles to addressing rape, very few cases make it to court, and even fewer result in conviction.
• Despite the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights recommendation of 16 years, many countries have thresholds well below this. Having a very low age of sexual consent may fail to provide adequate protection for minors from sexual abuse. The age of consent to sex in Africa oscillates from 11 to 18 years. In some countries, there is an age that is determined that a person can consent to sex, then additionally an absolute minimum age where even a close-in-age range defense cannot apply.