Women who are victims of domestic violence sometimes find it necessary to flee to another country in order to gain protection from such abuse. Although the international community has recently made strides in recognizing the pervasive nature of domestic violence and in pressuring governments to provide women with reasonable protection from this abuse, domestic violence persists and government protection remains inadequate. Therefore, these women flee because their governments are either unwilling or unable to provide them with adequate protection from domestic violence. This Note sets forth a framework for these women to establish an asylum claim based on domestic violence under United States immigration law. This framework is based on recent developments in immigration law, including the promulgation of guidelines by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to aid asylum officers in adjudicating claims from women (the INS Guidelines). The INS Guidelines address many of the obstacles women have faced when seeking asylum in the United States based on gender-related claims, such as those based on domestic violence, rape, and female genital mutilation. Since the promulgation of the INS Guidelines, adjudicators have recognized gender-related asylum claims based on rape and female genital mutilation. These cases, together with the INS Guidelines, establish precedent for recognizing asylum claims from women who are victims of domestic violence.
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