Case Law

The Committee makes the following recommendations to the State party: (a) Concerning the author of the communication and her daughters: (i) Reopen their asylum case, taking into account the Committee’s views; (ii) Refrain from forcibly returning them to Jordan, where they would be exposed to a real, personal and foreseeable risk of severe forms of gender-based violence. (b) General: (i) Take all measures necessary to ensure that victims of gender-based forms of persecution who are in need of protection, regardless of their status or residence, are not returned under any circumstance to any country in which their life would be at risk or where they might be subjected to gender-based violence or to torture or ill-treatment; (ii) Ensure that the threshold for accepting asylum applications is measured not against the probability but against the reasonable likelihood that the claimant has a well-founded fear of persecution or that she would be exposed to persecution upon her return; (iii) Ensure that women asylum seekers have timely information on the importance of the first interview and what constitutes relevant information in that context; (iv) Ensure that, whenever necessary, examiners use all the means at their disposal to produce and/or verify the necessary evidence in support of the application, including by seeking and gathering information from reliable governmental and non-governmental sources on human rights in the country of origin, in particular relating to the situation of women and girls, and taking all necessary measures in that regard; (v) Ensure, when interpreting all legally recognized grounds for asylum, the classification of claims for asylum on the basis of gender under the grounds of membership of a particular social group, where necessary, and consider adding sex and/or gender and other status to the list of grounds for refugee status in national asylum legislation;

15 July 2019 | Judicial Body: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) | Legal Instrument: 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) | Topic(s): Domestic violence - Forced marriage - Gender-based persecution - Women's rights | Countries: Denmark - Jordan - Palestine, State of

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10 April 2017 | Judicial Body: UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) | Topic(s): Domestic violence - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - Prostitution / Commercial sex work - Residence permits / Residency | Countries: Denmark - Iran, Islamic Republic of - Italy

24 October 2015 | Judicial Body: Australia: Administrative Appeals Tribunal | Topic(s): Domestic violence - Gender discrimination - Gender-based persecution - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - Sexual and reproductive rights - Women-at-risk | Countries: Australia - Turkey

12 February 2015 | Judicial Body: European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union | Topic(s): Domestic violence - False documents - National security / Public order - Regional instruments - Right to return - Spontaneous return | Countries: Netherlands

12 February 2015 | Judicial Body: European Union: Court of Justice of the European Union | Topic(s): Domestic violence - False documents - National security / Public order - Regional instruments - Right to return - Spontaneous return | Countries: Netherlands

9 February 2015 | Judicial Body: Australia: Refugee Review Tribunal | Topic(s): Domestic violence - Effective protection | Countries: Australia - Lebanon

26 August 2014 | Judicial Body: United States Board of Immigration Appeals | Topic(s): Agents of persecution - Domestic violence - Gender-based persecution - Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) - Social group persecution | Countries: El Salvador - Guatemala - United States of America

16 April 2014 | Judicial Body: Australia: Refugee Review Tribunal | Topic(s): Domestic violence - Social group persecution | Countries: Australia - Nepal

18 March 2014 | Judicial Body: Canada: Federal Court | Topic(s): Domestic violence - Women's rights - Women-at-risk | Countries: Canada - Guinea

28 February 2014 | Judicial Body: Canada: Federal Court | Topic(s): Denial of refugee status - Domestic violence - Serious non-political crime | Countries: Canada - Nigeria - United States of America