K.J., a national of Afghanistan who fled to Iran as a young child was granted refugee status in Greece on 5 November 2018. She claimed that she was forcibly married and sustained regularly physical and sexual abuse at the hand of her husband in Iran, and was denied state protection. Whilst in Greece, she was raped twice and feared for her life on a daily basis as she was told that her violent husband was searching for her in Athens. She claimed that the Greek authorities failed to support her, and as a consequence, she was forced to flee to Switzerland to have her basic needs covered and to get protection from gender-based violence. Whilst in Switzerland, she submitted an asylum application, however on 20 January 2020, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) ordered her transfer to Greece under the Dublin III Regulation in light of her refugee status there.
The applicant appealed to the Federal Administrative Court on 28 January 2020, claiming extreme vulnerability as a woman who had been a victim of gender-specific persecution and who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and seeking annulment of the removal decision and recognition of her asylum claim. On 3 February 2020, the court dismissed the appeal, finding Greece to be a safe third country with necessary medical treatment available. She was hospitalized in Switzerland from 11 February to 3 March 2020 due to a depressive episode.
On 24 March 2021, SEM rejected her request for reconsideration, again citing available medical treatment in Greece. She appealed, but on 16 April 2021, the court dismissed her appeal. She filed for reconsideration on 30 April 2021, arguing that prior evidence of gender-based violence in Greece had not been considered. On 5 May 2021, the court issued an interim decision confirming its earlier ruling, withdrawing suspensive effect, and finding the additional evidence irrelevant.
The applicant claimed that Switzerland violated Articles 2(c)–(f), 3 and 12 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by failing to conduct a gender-sensitive assessment of her asylum application and by ordering her removal to Greece. She argued that such removal would expose her to a serious and personal risk of renewed gender-based violence, inadequate medical and psychological care, and threats from her husband. She submitted that this would amount to refoulement and constitute torture or inhuman and degrading treatment, given her extreme vulnerability as a survivor of severe abuse and her reliance on stable therapy and support services.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) adopted its views on Communication No 169/2021 on 4 July 2025. Pending this consideration, the state party informed the Committee that the transfer of the applicant to Greece would be stalled.
The Committee noted the applicant's undisputed status as a survivor of severe gender-based violence, both in Iran and during her journey to Europe, and that she was recognized as a refugee in Greece. It also acknowledged her claims of further assaults in Greece and her deteriorating mental health, with medical reports confirming diagnoses of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and episodic panic disorder.
The Committee emphasized that under Article 2(d) of the Convention, states must avoid discrimination against women and ensure public authorities comply with this obligation. In line with international human rights law, states are also bound by the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning individuals to places where they risk serious human rights violations such arbitrary deprivation of life or torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment. Gender-based violence is recognized as a form of discrimination under Article 1 of the Convention, as it undermines women's human rights, including the rights to life and freedom from torture. In its General Recommendation No 35 (2017), the Committee reaffirmed that states are responsible for addressing gender-based violence, whether committed by state or non-state actors. Consequently, returning a person to a country where serious gender-based violence is foreseeable, and where authorities cannot provide protection, constitutes a violation of the Convention. What qualifies as serious gender-based violence must be assessed by the Committee on a case-by-case basis, once the complainant has made a substantiated prima facie claim.
In this case, the Committee observed that Swiss authorities dismissed the applicant's allegations of sexual violence in Greece on credibility grounds because they were raised late in the proceedings.
The Committee emphasised that while it is generally the responsibility of state authorities to evaluate facts, evidence, and the application of national law, such evaluations must not be biased, based on gender stereotypes, clearly arbitrary, or amount to a denial of justice. The Committee reiterated that states must give sufficient weight to the real and personal risk a person might face if deported.
In this case, the Committee stressed that the state party should have conducted an individualized assessment of the applicant's real, personal, and foreseeable risk as a refugee, single woman, a survivor of severe gender-based violence, and someone suffering from PTSD and depression. The Committee found that the state party failed to properly consider the applicant's vulnerable status, as well as the time that is often required for victims to be able to speak out about such violence, and concluded that it was not sufficient for the state party to dismiss her gender-based violence claims simply because they were made later in the proceedings. Moreover, the authorities did not sufficiently assess the foreseeable consequences on her mental health if forcibly removed from her current setting, where she was receiving stable therapy. It determined that a more thorough risk assessment would have been required.
The Committee therefore concluded that Switzerland's decision to remove the applicant to Greece would breach Articles 2(c)–(f), 3, and 12 of the Convention. It recommended that the state party reopen her asylum request, taking the Committee's findings into account, refrain from returning her to Greece while her case is reassessed, and continue providing specialised medical support. More generally, the Committee advised that refugees who are victims of gender-based violence should not be returned to their first-entry country under the Dublin III Regulation without an individualised, trauma-informed, and gender-sensitive assessment of the real risk of harm. The state party was required to respond in writing within six months, outlining any actions taken, and to publish and widely disseminate the Committee's views and recommendations to ensure they reach all relevant sectors of society.