Good News for Domestic Abuse Survivors Seeking Asylum

In December, Guatemalan woman Rody Alvarado was granted asylum after a 12 year battle, winning permission to remain in the United States safe from the reach of the husband who beat, raped, and threatened to kill her. A new ruling in the case of a Mexican woman, L.R., who was subjected to similar abuse from her common-law husband (he once even tried to burn her alive), clarifies the arguments under which women fleeing domestic violence in other countries can seek asylum.

The victories of Alvarado and L.R. were made possible in large part due to the shift from the Bush administration, which staunchly opposed domestic violence being used as ground for asylum, to the Obama team, which early on made it clear that there would be a change in the waters on this issue.

As decided in L.R.'s case, domestic violence victims whose own governments refuse to protect them can qualify for asylum. In many countries, misogyny is so entrenched in culture, law, and law enforcement, women victims of violence cannot obtain help; in L.R.'s case, this extended to one judge promising to protect her only if she would have sex with him. Thus, the ruling confirms that women who suffer from domestic violence that their own countries essentially give tacit acceptance of can claim to be part of a persecuted social group that is suffering from gender-based violence.

Aside from asylum, there was no other recourse for L.R.: she was unable to move anywhere in Mexico without her husband, who she reported first had sex with her when she was a teenage student and he an athletic coach, tracking her down. Now, L.R. and her two sons, also granted asylum, can start life anew, free from fear. This is one of the best parts of the U.S. immigration system.

Photo credit: Ben Pollard