 What are the justice goals of sending a complaint to a treaty body? The possible justice goals inter alia may be: to get an acknowledgment and validation of the violation suffered by the victim, to get recognition of the different types of rights violated, to get specific remedy and compensation from the State concerned, to bring international attention to rights violated by the State, to enforce due diligence standards, to lend gravity to crimes of sexual violence, to use the decision of the treaty body to change laws on sexual violence, and to get enforcement agencies in a State to take crimes against women and others seriously.  How to choose between different mechanisms? The choice of treaty body to send a complaint to depends on whether the State alleged to bear responsibility for the violation has accepted the individual complaints procedure of a treaty body. Among the most common treaty body mechanisms where complaints of violations of women’s rights or of sexual violence could be sent, as discussed in the manual, are the African Commission and Court that oversee compliance with the ACHPR and the Protocol on Women’s Rights, the Human Rights Committee established as a supervisory mechanism to violations of the ICCPR, the Committee Against Torture to redress violation of the UNCAT and the CEDAW Committee for violation of rights in the CEDAW. If the State concerned is a signatory to only one of the above mechanisms, the choice is restricted to that one. If the State concerned has not accepted any individual complaints procedures it is still possible to approach the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures. If the State is a signatory to more than one mechanism, then the choice may depend on the treaty rights that are violated the most. It must however be borne in mind that this may not always be the obvious choice and even if a particular treaty is most violated in a case, it may be strategic to approach another treaty body. Other considerations in the choice of mechanism to approach may be the time or the number of years it takes for a case to complete, the kind of remedies that can be expected, and the importance the State accords to a specific treaty body’s recommendations.  What is the strategic advantage of approaching one treaty body over the other? In situations where the State is signatory to more than one treaty body’s complaints procedures, the decision on which treaty body to approach is based on an assessment of the strategic advantage of one treaty body procedure over the other. As discussed above, since sexual violence is now recognised as torture when it can be said that the State or its officials are involved, either directly or for reasons of failure to exert due diligence, complainants from Africa may approach the African Commission for redress of sexual violence as torture, or of violation of any other rights under the Women’s Protocol. Alternatively, they may choose to approach the HRC, the CAT or the CEDAW Committee. These treaty bodies have the potential to access the State’s due diligence responsibilities in a case which may be used to strengthen a State’s due diligence compliance nationally. If the complainant is alleging violation of rights of life or dignity as a result of sexual violence, the African Commission or the HRC maybe an appropriate mechanism to approach. From the facts of sexual violence, if a case has to be made of systematic discrimination against women, the CEDAW Committee may be the best to approach. Alternatively, complaints may also be brought to the African Commission for violations of rights under the Protocol, including violations of rights to peace and security. Indeed, given that there are many conflict-ridden countries in Africa, women from States that have ratified the Protocol must proactively explore using its provision to litigate sexual violence as violations of right to peace and security. The choice between two competing mechanisms may ultimately be down to the accessibility, the regional proximity, the resources available, the length of time it takes to get a decision, 76 7. LITIGATION AND ADVOCACY STRATEGIES | REDRESS