In 2003, Aberew Jemma Negussie was convicted of the abduction and rape of a 13-year-old girl.

This was overturned on appeal as the prosecutor said only a virgin could be raped, and the victim could not prove she had been a virgin.

Rights groups said this was a violation of local and international law.

In 2007, Equality Now took the case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as “local avenues to justice were exhausted”.

Rights violated

Nine years later the African Union court based in The Gambia has ruled that Ethiopia had violated the girl’s rights to equality, dignity and a fair trial, among others.

It said the money would be “compensation for the non-material damage she suffered as a result [of] the violations”.

Equality Now described this as an “unprecedented ruling” that should send a message to “all levels of society”.

The girl was abducted and raped in 2001, and after the incident was reported to the police she was rescued and the perpetrator was arrested.

Abducted twice

But, after being released on bail, Aberew abducted her again.

She was held for a month before escaping, but while captive was forced to write her name on a piece of paper that would later be used as evidence of marriage.

Abducting girls to be forcibly married is a traditional practice in parts of Ethiopia.

Ethiopian girls fight child marriages

After being caught for a second time, Aberew, and four accomplices were convicted in 2003, and he received a 10-year sentence.

They were then released on appeal, but Equality Now argued that the law had not been correctly applied as “virginity is not a legal prerequisite for the offence of rape”.

Following the acquittal, rights groups used the case to get a change in the law in Ethiopia to ensure better protection for rape victims.

Equality Now says that the victim, now in her late 20s, is living in “relative safety and pursuing her education”.

Source: BBC