Women might be persecuted in their country of origin, in camps and on the move for motives connected to their gender. It can include sexual violence, intra-familial violence, forced marriages, female genital mutilations, forced sterilization or abortion.
Based on a consensus that women and girls face gender-specific challenges in accessing a fair and just assessment of their claims, a number of legislative tools have been developed by international, European and national bodies. However, the fact that legislative standards are both rigorous and vague enables the possibility for gaps between legislative tools and their implementation to arise. Moreover, despite some EU countries having made considerable efforts to incorporate gender-sensitivity in asylum procedures, a number of factors linked to the EU’s migration and asylum policies indirectly affect the environment of disclosure during hearings and thereby prevent the adequate implementation of existing legal tools.
Drawing on case studies focussing on Syrian and Eritrean women, the report intends to demonstrate the need to adapt a gender- but also case-specific sensitive glance during hearings in the asylum procedure. Thereafter, it sheds light on recommendations and potential measures aiming to recover the gap between existing legal tools and implementation to promote the adequate protection of women who have experienced, or fear to experience, gender-related forms of persecution.