Women's Claims

UNHCR has long recognized the special protection needs of women and girls in refugee and asylum procedures and works to understand escalating levels of violence they face across the globe. Recognizing the unique risks this population faces and in accordance with established international standards, UNHCR takes the view that the refugee definition encompasses claims from women and girls who experienced or might experience gender-based violence. It has developed guidance accordingly.

UNHCR offers the following summary on this topic as relevant to pursuing asylum claims in the United States:

• UNHCR’s Views on Gender-Based Asylum Claims: Using International Law to Support Claims by Women and Girls Seeking Protection in the United States (2022)

Key UNHCR Resources

For a discussion of substantive and procedural considerations relevant to gender-based claims, see:

• Guidelines on International Protection: Gender-Related Persecution within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (2002)
• Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women (1991) 

For a discussion of UNHCR’s views on the legal analysis of gender-based asylum claims in the U.S. context, see:

• Comments on the Proposed Rules from the U.S. Dept. of Justice and Dept. of Homeland Sec., “Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review” (2020)
• Amicus Brief, Marroquin-Perez v. Barr (2020)
• Amicus Brief, Grace v. Barr (2019)
• Amicus Brief, Matter of O.L.B.D. (2019)
• Amicus Brief, Matter of A-R-C-G- et al. (2012)
• Amicus Brief, Matter of Thomas et al. (2007)
• Advisory Opinion on International Norms: Gender-Related Persecution and Relevance to “Membership of a Particular Social Group” and “Political Opinion,” in Matter of Rodi Alvarado Peña (2004)

For a discussion of the specific protection issues, problems, and risks facing refugee and asylum-seeking women, see:

• UNHCR Policy on the Prevention of, Risk Mitigation, and Response to Gender-Based Violence (2020)
• Protecting Forcibly Displaced Women and Girls During the Covid-19 Pandemic (2021)
• Women on the Run: First-Hand Accounts of Refugees Fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico (2015)

Additional Materials

• Refworld: Gender Equality and Women 
• Refworld: Gender-Based Persecution 
• Refworld: Domestic Violence 
• Refworld: Gender Discrimination
• Webinar by UNHCR, CGRS, & Tahirih Justice Center: Representing Women from Central America: Leveraging International Law to Strengthen Asylum Claims (2017) (recording and slides)