Women’s Reproductive Rights in Senegal: A Shadow Report

The purpose of this report is to supplement, or “shadow,” the periodic report of the government of Senegal to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during its 26th session. The report has been compiled and written by the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) and Groupe de recherche femmes et lois au Sénégal (GREFELS).This report discusses issues of rape, domestic violence, femicide, and FGM in the context of Senegal. It speaks to a case where the argument of the Qur’an authorising wife-beating as a punishment for disobedience was made, and it looks at the practice of marrying off victims of sexual assault to their assailants as compensation and in order to redeem her ‘honour’ specifically. It, furthermore, links these fundamental rights issues to the pertinent clauses of the ICESCR. Fatou Sow and GREFELS of the WLUML network provided valuable assistance and guidance to the findings of this report.