refugee women

Although international and regional refugee law, including European Union refugee law, does not explicitly refer to ‘gender’ as a ground of persecution, it is widely accepted that it can influence, or dictate, the type of persecution or harm suffered and the reasons for this treatment. The EU definition of persons recognised as in need of international protection (albeit not as refugees but as beneficiaries of ‘subsidiary protection’), if properly interpreted, therefore covers gender-related claims.

Violence against women is one of the major forms of persecution experienced by women in the context of refugee status and asylum. It may include the threat of female genital mutilation, forced/early marriage, threat of violence and/or so-called honour crimes, trafficking in women, rape and other forms of sexual assault, serious forms of domestic violence, the imposition of the death penalty or other physical punishments existing in discriminatory justice systems, forced sterilisation, political or religious persecution for holding feminist or other views, and the persecutory consequences of failing to conform to gender-prescribed social norms and mores. Therefore, asylum procedures that do not take into account the special situation or needs of women can impede a comprehensive determination of their claims.