The applicant, Senegalese national, applied for international protection in 2015 alleging to have been threatened by her partner for an abortion and for having been denounced to the Senegalese authorities for the abortion. The CGRS rejected the application and found the statements to be incoherent and not credible. The first instance court confirmed the negative decision.

The applicant submitted a subsequent application in 2020, which was rejected as inadmissible. The applicant submitted psychological and psychiatric reports to prove her claims related to her particular vulnerability and emotional state following the clandestine abortion in Senegal.

In this judgment, which rules on a decision declaring inadmissible a subsequent application for international protection, the Council deals with a specific issue linked to gender and recognizes the status of refugee to a woman because of the threats and violence she suffered as a result of her decision to have an abortion in Senegal. The applicant also presented documents attesting her strong feminist commitment within Belgian civil society for the last four years.

The applicant appealed against the inadmissibility decision, the Council observes first of all that the abortion of the applicant is not contested, that this practice is criminalized by the Senegalese authorities and that it constitutes a social taboo and important family issue. The Council also considers that the psychological and psychiatric follow-up of the applicant demonstrates her particular vulnerability.

The Council then analysed the new documents produced by the applicant and considered that they are capable of establishing that she had an extramarital relationship with a man, that she was threatened by the latter following her abortion and that this fact was denounced to the Senegalese authorities.

The Council concluded that the fears of persecution invoked by the applicant following her abortion are well founded and that there is therefore reason to recognize her as a refugee on account of her belonging to a specific social group, namely that of Senegalese women.