Home | Portail de l'Assemblée
en français | Extranet | Council of Europe | Search

Search

News

Documents

Index
A-Z

The News

Latest
news

Newsletter

Meetings

The
week ahead

Sessions

Conferences
and colloquies

All
meetings

Documents

Adopted
texts

Working
documents

Reports
under preparation

Verbatim
records

How
to search?

Functioning

PACE
in brief (PDF)

- Origin

- Working
structure

- Procedures

- Committees

Rules
of procedure

Secretary
General

Organisational
chart

Members

List
from A to Z

By
political group

By
national delegation

By
committee

Other
bodies

Members
since 1949

Political groups
(www)

EPP/CD

SOC

ALDE

EDG

UEL

Links

Council
of Europe

National
parliaments

International
parliaments

International
institutions

Download

PACE's
logo

Photographs

Provisional
edition

Gender-related claims for asylum

Resolution 1765 (2010)1

1.
Fifty-two per cent of all refugees in Europe are women or
girls. Many women and girls seek asylum due to persecution
that is specific to their being female. These persons deserve
to be treated in a way that recognises their particular needs
and any persecution and violence they may have faced linked to
their gender.

2.
Gender-related persecution where the victims are persecuted
because they are women and gender-based violence such as rape,
can give rise to international protection claims. According to
NGOs and international organisations, states do not always
take into account the gender dimension when assessing asylum
applications. Persecution experienced by women and girls often
differs from that experienced by men, but the asylum system
still tends to regard it through a lens of male experiences.

3.       Women
and girls may face different forms of harm, gender-related
persecution and gender-based violence. These may include
sexual exploitation, forced marriage, honour crimes, forced
abortion, forced pregnancy and forced sterilisation. During
armed conflict, women and girls may be subjected to physical,
sexual and psychological violence, including rape. Two other
forms of harm that women and girls in particular may face
include female genital mutilation and trafficking in human
beings. They may also be victims of so-called honour crimes.
The perpetrators of gender-based forms of violence (or harm)
can be non-state as well as state actors.

4.
Individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender also
face particular forms of gender-related persecution and
gender-based violence and often have to hide their sexual
orientation or risk being harassed, or in extreme cases being
beaten and even killed.

5.       The
Parliamentary Assembly has previously addressed different
forms of gender-based violence, in particular in its
Resolution 1635 (2008) on combating violence against
women: towards a Council of Europe Convention and
Resolution 1662 (2009) on action to combat gender-based
human rights violations, including abduction of women and
girls. Although many member states are stepping up their work
in order to streamline a gender understanding into public
decision-making, policy and operations, this understanding
does not always translate into the asylum process.

6.       In
addition to the problem of gender issues not being properly
taken into account in the asylum determination assessment, the
asylum procedure in member states often makes it difficult for
women to bring across their full story. A woman who faces a
male interviewer or interpreter can be reluctant to speak
freely and give a full account of the violence she has
experienced, whether gender-based or not. Moreover, the
officials involved in the asylum procedure often lack adequate
training on gender issues and therefore fail to ask the right
questions or to analyse the evidence before them properly.
This problem may be exacerbated by the use of country of
origin information that ignores gender issues or has little
gender relevance. Furthermore, the social situation of a woman
in the asylum process may also mitigate against her, whether
in terms of her situation in detention or her situation in
society in the host country, where she may continue to face
forms of discrimination and even violence.

7.       The
Assembly recalls the recommendations set out in its
Resolution 1695 (2009) on improving the quality and
consistency of asylum decisions in the Council of Europe
member states. It also recalls its
Resolution 1662 (2009) and emphasises the relevance of
these in tackling the issue of gender-based violence and
gender-based persecution in asylum claims.

8.       Women
and girls seeking asylum in Council of Europe member states
have the right to have their protection claims determined by
an asylum system that is informed and sensitive in all aspects
of its policy and operations to the particular forms of
persecution and human rights abuses that women face in the
light of their gender. Therefore, the Assembly calls on member
states to:

8.1.
ensure that gender-based violence is taken into account
under the five different grounds of persecution (race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion) in any asylum determination
process and that “gender” is specifically included in the
notion of a “particular social group” under the refugee
definition set out in the 1951 Geneva Convention,
preferably by law, or at least in practice;

8.2.
take into account that not only women and girls face
gender-based violence and gender-related persecution, but
that men and boys may also face such violence and
persecution;

8.3.
take into account that gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender persons are increasingly facing gender-based
violence and gender-related persecution.

9.       In
order to ensure that asylum procedures are sufficiently
sensitive to gender-related claims, the Assembly further
recommends that member states:

9.1.
identify women and girls that may have faced gender-based
violence and gender-related persecution as early in the
process as possible, and where appropriate ensure that
they are registered in their individual capacity in order
to remain independent of their husbands or male relatives
when pursuing their applications;

9.2.
ensure that women who might suffer trauma due to
gender-based or other forms of violence are given
sufficient time to reflect and recuperate before the
asylum procedure is initiated, if necessary on the basis
of a special temporary residence permit, which should
however not preclude or replace the subsequent long-term
residence permit that could be granted once refugee status
has been established;

9.3.
ensure that women are automatically provided assistance
and interpretation by female counsellors and interpreters
when formulating their asylum claims and filling out their
applications;

9.4.
ensure that women fill out their asylum application by
themselves and that this is not done for them by husbands
or other relatives;

9.5.
similarly, avoid that spouses and relatives are present
during the asylum interview, and ensure the
confidentiality of the asylum process if the victim of
gender-based or other form of violence requests it or if
the sensitivity of the case so requires, including by
holding in camera hearings during the appeal process;

9.6.
guarantee that interviewers and interpreters dealing with
female asylum seekers are automatically women. If for any
reason this is not possible, the female asylum seeker
should be informed of the right to have a woman
interviewer or interpreter;

9.7.
that the asylum interview is carried out in a
gender-sensitive way and, in particular, that questions
relevant to gender-based violence and gender-related
persecution are asked;

9.8.
women are not hindered from accessing asylum procedures by
lack of child care opportunities or problems in queuing
and obtaining appointments for their asylum claims,
etc.

10.        In
order to ensure that the decision process is sufficiently
sensitive to gender-related asylum claims, the Assembly also
recommends that member states:

10.1.
ensure that country of origin information is up to date on
gender-based violence and gender-related persecution
issues;

10.2.
ensure that the asylum determination is carried out by an
official who has received adequate training with a view to
properly detecting the occurrence of gender-based violence
and gender-related persecution that may give right to
refugee or other status;

10.3.
take fully into consideration that the majority of
gender-based violence and gender-related persecution is
inflicted by private actors, but that the state retains
the responsibility to protect victims, whether or not it
is able to do so;

10.4.
take into account that a woman who has chosen not to avail
herself of the protection of the state from which she is
fleeing might have done so for fear of retaliation and
further abuse (for example by male relatives), and that
this fact shall not prejudice her claim for refugee
status;

10.5.
restrict the use of internal flight alternatives for
asylum seekers who invoke gender-related claims, taking
carefully into account the availability of state
protection in the area of relocation and the safety of the
route, as well as the prevailing cultural and social
conditions in the country and the possibilities to earn a
living;

10.6
ensure that claims for asylum on the grounds of
gender-based violence are examined under the relevant
procedures for acquiring refugee status under the 1951
Geneva Convention; however, if dismissed, it should still
be possible to examine them under complementary forms of
protection;

10.7.
consider indiscriminate sexual violence in the context of
armed conflicts as a form of persecution liable to engage
the 1951 Geneva Convention and, in any case, as sufficient
grounds for granting a complementary form of
protection;

10.8.
recognise cumulative discrimination as a form of
persecution for the purposes of the 1951 Geneva Convention
and, in any case, as sufficient grounds for granting a
complementary form of protection;

10.9.
recognise that some forms of domestic violence can amount
to persecution for the purposes of the 1951 Geneva
Convention and/or for the granting a complementary form of
protection, in particular when such violence attains a
certain level of severity and when the authorities are
unable or unwilling to protect the victim.

11.       The
Assembly considers that, in the asylum process, member states
should, in particular, take into account the special problems
faced by:

11.1.
victims of trafficking, notably women and girls, and in this
respect:

11.1.1.
ensure that trafficking in human beings, in particular
for sexual exploitation, is considered as a form of
persecution on which a claim for asylum can be
based;

11.1.2.
collaboration of the woman or girl concerned with the
police, prosecutor or judiciary should not be a
precondition for the granting of asylum or other
complementary form of international
protection;

11.2.
victims or potential victims of female genital mutilation,
and in this respect ensure that:

11.2.1.
female genital
mutilation and the risk of female genital mutilation are
recognised as a potential ground for an asylum claim;

11.2.2.
a well-founded fear of female genital mutilation is taken
into account concerning a daughter born post-flight, even
when the parents have been in the country of asylum for some
time;

11.3.
victims of rape, torture and sexual violence, and ensure, in
particular, that they are excluded from accelerated asylum
procedures and that they are given access to appropriate
social and psychological care;

11.4. victims or potential victims of
forced sterilisation, and in this respect ensure that forced
sterilisation is recognised as a potential ground for an
asylum claim.

12.
Bearing in mind the particular vulnerability of female asylum
seekers in relation to their social and legal situation
before, during and after the asylum process, member states
should ensure that:

12.1.
the physical safety of asylum-seeking women and girls is
guaranteed, in particular if they are provided with
collective accommodation or held in detention;

12.2.
female asylum seekers are provided with work permits to
allow them independence and to avoid them becoming more
vulnerable and targets for exploitation.

13.       In
order for member states to ensure that gender-based violence
and gender-related persecution is adequately taken into
account in the asylum process, the Assembly urges members
states to:

13.1.
render their asylum systems and asylum procedures
gender-sensitive, including by providing compulsory
training to officials;

13.2.
undertake a gender-impact assessment of all current and
proposed asylum policies and procedures and make adjustments
to address discriminatory or negative impacts due to
gender;

13.3.
collect and analyse statistics with regard to gender-based
violence and gender-related persecution in asylum
claims;

13.4.
ensure that all asylum statistics are sex-disaggregated;

13.5.
publish national asylum precedents concerning gender-based
violence and gender-related persecution as a means of
raising awareness and ensuring greater quality and
consistency in European asylum systems.

14.       The
Assembly recommends that member states take all necessary
measures to tackle the roots of gender-based violence and
gender-related persecution, both within their own borders and
also in countries of origin.

1 Assembly debate on 8 October
2010 (36th Sitting) (see Doc.
12350, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mr Zernovski, and Doc.
12359, opinion of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men, rapporteur: Mrs Hägg). Text adopted by the
Assembly on 8 October 2010 (36th Sitting).

See also
Recommendation 1940 (2010).

©
PACE | Disclaimer
| ©
Photo credit | Address
| Contact : [email-masked]