(U.S.) New Policy Permits Asylum for Battered Women
— NYT: “The Obama administration has opened the way for foreign women who are victims of severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the United States.”
— “In addition to meeting other strict conditions for asylum, abused women will need to show that they are treated by their abuser as subordinates and little better than property, according to an immigration court filing by the administration, and that domestic abuse is widely tolerated in their country”
— “They must show that they could not find protection from institutions at home or by moving to another place within their own country.”
— “The new policy does not involve women fleeing genital mutilation.”
— “Any applicant for asylum or refugee status in the United States must demonstrate a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or ‘membership in a particular social group.’ The extended legal argument has been whether abused women could be part of any social group that would be eligible under those terms. Last year, 22,930 people won asylum in this country fleeing all types of persecution; the number has been decreasing in recent years.”
— See also reports on misogynist violence against women
— See also reports on extremist violence and oppression of women
— See also U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 and Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking
Will such a new United States asylum policy help protect women from extremist “honor killings” and other institutionalized violence against women around the world?
In the past month, these are just SOME of the stories of the continued INSTITUTIONALIZED misogyny and violence against women, rationalized by extremists:
Saudi Arabia: Abused woman flees shelter; shelter “accused of helping woman flee”
Saudi Arabia: Brother kills two sisters in Social Affairs shelter over “honor”
Saudi religious police blamed in ‘honour’ killing of sisters
Saudi Arabia: Child Marriage Not Prohibited Under “Sharia Law”
Pakistan: ‘Violence against women on rise as perpetrators go scot-free’
Pakistan: “122 cases of women being burnt were reported in Lahore”
Pakistan high court orders release of “honour killing” convict
Pakistan: “Honour killings in Sindh rise in second quarter: report”
Pakistan’s Lahore: Man kills sister in the name of ‘honour’ — in front of other family members
Pakistan “Honor killings”: Couple, including teenage bride, mother, sister murdered
Pakistan: 16 year old girl sold to 62 year old man
Pakistan: Another “Honor Killing” of Eloped Couple — Barki
Pakistan: extremist mob kidnap, strip, beat on pour acid on Christian women – July 7 report, July 1 report
Syria “amends” “honor killing law” – deciding that two years in jail is sufficient punishment for murdering a woman
Iran: No Matter Who Is President of Iran, They Would Stone Me – by Lila Ghobady
Iran: Concerns Over Detained Iranian Christian Women Amid Political Turmoil – may face execution for religious freedom
Gaza woman journalist: Hamas “police” “accused me of laughing in public” – now gets death threats
Gaza women suffer from die-hard custom of “honor killing”
Jordan: “Spree of honour killings in Jordan”
Jordanian stabs sister in “honor killing” for rumors she was dating a man
Afghanistan: “Honor-Killing” in Afghanistan: Father Kills His Daughter and Her Lover
Bangladesh: extremist fatwa used for public whipping of woman 200 times
Iraq: Iraqi-Swede woman attacked, attempted honor-murder suspected
Maldives: Woman gets 100 lashes in public, house arrest in Sharia punishment – govt says Maldives too “squeamish” for other Sharia penalties
Sudanese women flogged in public by extremists for wearing trousers
UK: Report on Sharia courts state women’s word not sufficient – even in abuse cases
UK: Forced Marriage reports up 16 percent – schools warned to watch out for abusive families
Germany: Turk stabs teen daughter in ‘honour killing’ – because daughter “did not want to follow the Muslim way”
Kyrgyzstan: Child Brides — “in accordance with Muslim Sharia law in a wedding ceremony known as a nikah”
Bahrain Offers Women No Protection from Spousal Rape
Russia: Suspect detained in “honor killing” in Chechnya
Belgium: Brothers arrested in suspected honour killing
Sweden: “Honor Killing” Suspected in Balcony Fall Cases