Breathing Life into the Maputo Protocol: Case Digest – Jurisprudence on the Rights of Women and Girls in Africa

This Digest is an analysis of specific court decisions from various jurisdictions in African States and in regional human rights mechanisms that have referred to or implemented the Maputo Protocol. It summarizes relevant cases that have applied provisions of the Maputo Protocol, and provides a commentary on key cases. This Digest aims to facilitate the use of and reliance on the provisions of the Maputo Protocol by judicial officers and legal practitioners, by equipping them with the necessary knowledge of existing jurisprudence in relation to the Maputo Protocol. It seeks to provide a tool that judges and magistrates can use as a reference point in anchoring their decisions involving women and girls’ rights, and that legal practitioners can use to argue that courts must refer to provisions of the Maputo Protocol to guide their decisions on the rights of women and girls.

We hope that this Digest serves as a useful tool in the fight to ensure that the rights and protections guaranteed under the Maputo Protocol become a reality for women and girls across Africa.