N., a national of Senegal claimed that she had been forced into marriage by her grandmother and had subsequently left the marital home to escape abuse from her husband and harassment from his other wives. For these reasons, she left Senegal in October 2023 and requested international protection in France, where she arrived on 1 April 2024.

By decision of 28 November 2025, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons' (OFPRA) rejected her request.

The applicant appealed this decision before the National Court of Asylum (CNDA) arguing that, if returned to her country of origin, she feared persecution or serious harm from her husband because of her membership in the social group of young women who seek to escape forced marriage in a population where forced marriage is so common that it constitutes a social norm.

By judgment of 16 July 2026, the CNDA ruled for the first time that women in rural areas of Senegal who refuse a forced marriage or attempt to escape it constitute a particular social group, but it rejected the appeal of the applicant as she did not prove the facts presented as the reason for her departure from Senegal and the alleged fears.

The CNDA noted that, although the Constitution of Senegal prohibits forced marriage and considers it a violation of individual freedom and the Family code which sets the minimum marriage age at 16 for women and 18 for men, this practice remains widespread and the legislation is largely unenforced, especially in the rural areas of the south, east and north-east. It further observed that respect for tradition, social pressure, the need to preserve family honour, family and community ties, and a lack of financial resources compel many girls and women to accept forced marriages, risking exposure to domestic violence and ostracism and economic consequences if they refuse. Based on COI information, the court also observed that while there is a clear political will to end forced marriages through the implementation of national strategies and regional action plans by the Senegalese government, victims of forced marriage can seek help and protection from police and/or judicial authorities, but most forced marriages go unchallenged, with victims tending to resign themselves.

The court therefore considered that there is in Senegal a social group comprised of rural women who refuse to submit to a forced marriage or attempt to escape one.

However, the court considered that in the applicant's individual case, the facts presented as the reason for the departure from Senegal and the alleged fears could not be established, and the appeal was dismissed.