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

4 May 2016 | Judicial Body: Australia: Administrative Appeals Tribunal | Topic(s): 1951 Refugee Convention - Credibility assessment - Forced marriage - Persecution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity - Social group discrimination - Social group persecution - Transgression of social / cultural norms | Countries: Australia - Viet Nam

2 May 2016 | Judicial Body: Australia: Administrative Appeals Tribunal | Topic(s): 1951 Refugee Convention - Credibility assessment - Forced marriage - Social group discrimination - Social group persecution - Transgression of social / cultural norms | Countries: Australia - Nepal

28 April 2016 | Judicial Body: Australia: Administrative Appeals Tribunal | Topic(s): 1951 Refugee Convention - Arbitrary arrest and detention - Credibility assessment - Forced marriage - Physical harm - Religious persecution (including forced conversion) | Countries: Australia - Jordan

19 January 2016 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Effective remedy - Evidence (including age and language assessments / medico-legal reports) - Female genital mutilation (FGM) - Forced marriage - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Gender-based persecution - Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) | Countries: Belgium - Guinea

10 September 2015 | Judicial Body: Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights | Topic(s): Forced marriage - Freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment - Security situation - Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) | Countries: Somalia - Sweden

21 April 2015 | Judicial Body: New Zealand: Immigration and Protection Tribunal | Topic(s): 1951 Refugee Convention - Convention against Torture (CAT) - Forced marriage - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - Refugee / Asylum law - Threats / Intimidation - Widowed persons | Countries: Malawi - New Zealand

19 February 2015 | Judicial Body: Belgium: Conseil du Contentieux des Etrangers | Topic(s): Benefit of the doubt - Children-at-risk - Credibility assessment - Female genital mutilation (FGM) - Forced marriage - Rejected asylum-seekers | Countries: Belgium - Guinea

15 December 2014 | Judicial Body: United Kingdom: Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) | Topic(s): Christian - Forced marriage - Internal flight alternative (IFA) / Internal relocation alternative (IRA) / Internal protection alternative (IPA) - Religious discrimination - Religious persecution (including forced conversion) | Countries: Pakistan - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

6 November 2014 | Judicial Body: Belgium: Conseil du Contentieux des Etrangers | Topic(s): Credibility assessment - Female genital mutilation (FGM) - Forced marriage | Countries: Belgium - Guinea