Overcoming Legal Obstacles to Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence: S.A.’s Case against the DRC

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has reaffirmed a fundamental principle in the case of S.A. v. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): States have a binding obligation to enforce reparation awards for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). 

The decision was adopted during the ACHPR’s 3-23 May 2023 session, but was only made public in November 2025. In its finding, the Commission accepted most of the applicant’s arguments. While it did not find a violation of the prohibition of torture, given that domestic courts had already recognised the responsibility of both the perpetrator and the State for the sexual violence suffered by S.A., it found that the DRC had violated several other rights. These included the right to a fair trial, the right to property, the prohibition of discrimination against women, and the obligation to adopt legislative measures to bring domestic law into compliance with regional human rights standards.

The Commission also ordered the DRC to pay full compensation to S.A., including interest accrued as a result of the State’s prolonged failure to enforce the domestic judgment. It also ordered measures of non-repetition, such as legislative reforms to ensure that compensation awards against the State can be effectively enforced, the removal of structural barriers that prevent women from accessing justice, and the creation of systems to collect disaggregated data on violence against women. 

Access to justice: a long journey for survivors of CRSV

For survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, access to justice is often a long and difficult journey. They routinely face gender stereotypes, material and procedural barriers, social exclusion, and judicial processes that revictimise them by shifting blame onto victims. These obstacles undermine accountability and allow impunity to persist, while denying survivors reparation.

S.A., one of the more than one million survivors of CRSV in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), chose to challenge these entrenched barriers. In the late 2000s, she was raped in her home by a member of the security forces who was also her neighbour, after her husband and children were threatened. The perpetrator also stole some of her belongings. S.A. brought a claim against both the perpetrator and the State, seeking justice. Although domestic courts upheld her claims, convicted the perpetrator, and awarded compensation, the reparation order has never been enforced. More than 15 years after the crime, justice remains elusive. A key obstacle lies in the DRC’s legal framework, which makes it extremely difficult for victims to enforce compensation awards against the State.

In 2014, REDRESS, together with the Synergie pour l’assistance judiciaire aux victimes de violation des droits humains au Nord Kivu (SAJ), brought S.A.’s case  before the ACHPR. We argued that the DRC’s failure to implement the domestic judgment amounted to multiple human rights violations, including the prohibition of torture; the right to a fair trial; the right to property; its obligation to bring its domestic legal framework into conformity with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; and the prohibition of discrimination against women, as set out in the African Charter and the Maputo Protocol. 

The ACHPR decision marks an important step in calling on States to dismantle legal and structural barriers and to ensure effective access to justice for women victims of violence, including survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. 

Photo by UN OCHA