The applicant, a Cameroonian national who has applied for international protection, claimed to have experienced domestic violence from an uncle involved in a cult devoted to human sacrifices and for this reason she left the country with the support of a man involved in human trafficking. The woman also had a minor child.

Due to the lack of cooperation of the applicant, the Territorial Commission of Bologna rejected the application because  the applicant has denied any hypothesis of human trafficking and claimed to have never had any kind of contact or problem related to trafficking. Moreover, regarding the statements about the domestic violence experienced, the Territorial Commission considered that there was a lack of detail and information that could bring clarity on the uncle's alleged power to endanger the applicant's life should she return to Cameroon. The Territorial Commission assessed that the conditions for the recognition of the refugee status under Article 1 of the Geneva Convention and Articles 7 and 8 Legislative Decree no. 251/2007, were not met and excluded the possibility of a risk of serious harm in the sense indicated by Article 14 of Legislative Decree 251/2007. 

The applicant's unavailability and subsequent failure to appear at the hearing prevented the Territorial Commission from examining  the profile of gender-based violence and membership of a particular social group, for lack of sufficient information.

The applicant appealed the decision, claiming to the Tribunal of Bologna the recognition of subsidiary protection and the request of residence permit for humanitarian reason.

The Tribunal made a joint assessment of the most up-to-date COI sources available, describing a situation characterized by unstable security conditions in the Littoral region in Cameroon, region of origin of the applicant. As stated by the CJEU in the Elgafaji case (C-465/07 of 17/02/2009) , the requirements of Article 14(c) Legislative Decree No. 251/2007 for being granted subsidiary protection include the existence of a serious and concrete danger of suffering serious harm to life or physical integrity or  a situation of indiscriminate violence resulting from internal armed conflict capable of endangering the safety of the population by of the mere  presence in the territory.

The Tribunal stated that the applicant and her child would be exposed to a condition that would result in serious harm to them, a context of indiscriminate violence. The Tribunal added that the interpretation of the causal link between the indiscriminate violence and the alleged serious harm is not necessarily limited to the harm directly caused by the indiscriminate violence or by actions of the actors in the conflict, but to a certain extent, and in the presence of certain conditions, to indirect effects, such as lack of access to health care and the inability of the state to ensure the safety and security of its female citizens.

For the reasons above, the Tribunal concluded that the applicant shall be granted subsidiary protection.