The Maputo Protocol, adopted in 2003, was intended to counterbalance the normative deficiencies of the African Charter with respect to women’s rights. However, 15 years down the line, there is not much case law on the Protocol. The ECOWAS Court made its first pronouncement on the Protocol in 2017 in Dorothy Njemanze & 3 Others v. The Federal Republic of Nigeria. This paper analyses three gender-based violence decisions by the Ecowas Court: Dorothy Njemanze, Aminata Diantou Diane and Mary Sunday cases. The paper examines the potential of the Protocol and the due diligence principle in influencing the Ecowas Court’s jurisprudence on women’s rights and makes recommendations.

中文翻译：

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西非经共体法院的妇女权利判例：马普托议定书和尽职调查标准的作用

2003 年通过的《马普托议定书》旨在弥补《非洲宪章》在妇女权利方面的规范缺陷。然而，15 年后，关于该议定书的判例法并不多。西非经共体法院于 2017 年在 Dorothy Njemanze & 3 Others 诉尼日利亚联邦共和国案中首次就该议定书作出宣判。本文分析了西共体法院的三项基于性别的暴力裁决：Dorothy Njemanze、Aminata Diantou Diane 和 Mary Sunday 案件。该文件审查了议定书和尽职调查原则在影响西非经共体法院关于妇女权利的判例方面的潜力并提出了建议。