Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

The United States grants asylum to applicants who can demonstrate they meet the definition of a "refugee, " based primarily on the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees. The definition has not been substantively updated since 1951 and does not easily apply to domestic violence victims who are seeking asylum. Generally, such victims need to show that the persecution they fear is on account of their membership in a particular social group, a showing that is made more difficult by a series of Board of Immigration Appeals' decisions that set forth complex requirements for social group claims. Even with the BIA 's momentous 2014 decision, Matter of A-R-C-G-, which approved a possible social group for domestic violence victims, these applicants still have significant legal hurdles they must face to demonstrate they meet the convoluted definition of "membership in a particular social group. "I nstead offollowing the circular definition the BIA adopted, a better formulation for domestic violence-based asylum claims is a social group defined by the applicant's gender and nationality which would allow for a social group on behalf of gender and nationality, which more accurately explains why these women are being persecuted and why the government is unable or unwilling to protect them.

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