C.O.E., a female Nigerian applicant, who identifies as a lesbian. She claimed that, when her family found out about her sexual orientation, they threatened to bury her alive. Fearing for her life, she left for the south of Nigeria where she met a woman named A, who offered to find her domestic work in Italy and organized her trip. Before leaving for Italy, the applicant had to take an oath in a juju ritual swearing to repay the money for the trip. She travelled using fake identification documents, arriving in Italy in November 2009, where she was trafficked into prostitution to repay her debt. She was forced to apply for asylum in Italy under a false identity and she then applied under her real identity in 2013, which was rejected. She faced further violence in Italy but did seek help due to threats and her fear of negative consequences. She fled in 2015, moving around Italy in different places, and after an encounter with A, she started receiving threatening telephone calls to repay the money. She was subsequently followed by men in the street and raped. She fled to Switzerland and applied for asylum on 4 June 2020, submitting medical evidence of trauma. In Switzerland she was supported by FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking. She stated before the State Secretariat for Migration that she did not want to return to Italy as she continued to receive threatening call from A.

On 30 July 2020, the State Secretariat for Migration requested the Italian authorities to readmit the applicant and a transfer was approved by Italy. On 11 August 2020, she submitted a report by FIZ, dated 31 July 2020, according to which she qualified as a victim of trafficking.

On 8 December 2020, the State Secretariat for Migration rejected the asylum application and confirmed a transfer to Italy stating that reception conditions in Italy were adequate. The applicant appealed before the Federal Administrative Court, which upheld the decision of the State Secretariat for Migration on 12 February 2021.

Before the UN CEDAW, the applicant claimed a violation of her rights under Articles 2(d) and 6 of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women if removed to Italy, where she would be at real risk of irreparable harm and retraumatization due to her mental state, and would suffer revictimization and potential persecution.

UN CEDAW concluded that Switzerland failed to conduct an individualised and gender-sensitive assessment of the asylum claim.

The Committee took note that the applicant was a survivor of trafficking in persons and severe gender-based violence in Italy, and that as a result of the sustained violence, her mental health deteriorated, leading to suicidal ideation, as shown by medical psychiatric reports in Switzerland.

The Committee considered that gender-based violence, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms under general international law or under human rights conventions, was discrimination within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention, and that such rights included the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture. It noted its general recommendation No 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No 19.

The Committee recalled that women and girls faced an increased risk of being trafficked at all stages of migration (in transit, in reception and accommodation facilities, at borders and in destination countries).

The Committee noted that it was for the Swiss authorities to undertake an individualized assessment of the real, personal and foreseeable risk that the applicant would face in Italy, as a survivor of trafficking in persons, forced prostitution and severe gender-based violence who suffered from suicidal ideation as a consequence of such violence and the fear of returning to that country, instead of relying on the assumption that she would be able to obtain appropriate medical care. The Committee considered that Switzerland did not examine in an individualized and sufficiently thorough manner the applicant’s trauma and the foreseeable consequences on her mental health, including suicidal ideation, if she was forcibly returned to the country where she endured this violence, which may be experienced as a retraumatizing event that must be taken into consideration as a source of real, personal, serious and irreparable harm. Thus, the Committee considered that a more thorough and individualized risk assessment was required and that a removal to Italy would amount to a breach of Articles 2 (d) and 6 of the Convention.

The Committee made the following recommendations to Switzerland:

“(a) Concerning the author of the communication:

(i) Reopen her asylum request, taking into account the Committee’s views;

(ii) Refrain from returning her to Italy while the reassessment of her case is still pending;

(iii) Provide continued specialized medical support.

(b) General: Take all measures necessary to ensure that victims of trafficking in persons, exploitation of prostitution and gender-based violence, who are in need of protection, are not returned to the country of their first entry under the Dublin III Regulation without an individualized, traumainformed and gender-sensitive assessment of the real risk of retraumatization.”