In 2005 she received the Sakharov Prize. In particular, she was rewarded for her volunteer work in defending persons convicted under Sharia law, Islamic law in the provinces of northern Nigeria: women sentenced to flogging or men sentenced to amputation for theft . She defended women accused of adultery who were at risk of death by stoning, such as Amina Lawal, Safiya Hussaini and Hafsatu Abubakar.

In November 2005, the Paris Council made her the honorary citizen of the City of Paris.
In the fall of 2006, she was visiting professor at the Faculty of Law at the Université de Saint-Louis.