UNHCR-women On The Run

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING
EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

A Study Conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
© 2015 UNHCR
FOREWORD
Today the world is witness to a global refugee crisis of proportions not seen since World War II. But while
most of the international media attention is on the refugees arriving in Europe – from countries such as Syria,
Iraq, and Afghanistan – there is another protection crisis unfolding in Central America.
Tens of thousands of women – travelling alone or together with their children or other family members – are
fleeing a surging tide of violence in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and parts of Mexico. This report brings
their often terrifying stories to life and explains why these women have been forced to flee their homelands.
The more than 160 women interviewed for this report talked about being raped, assaulted, extorted, and
threatened by members of heavily-armed, transnational criminal groups. They spoke about their families
having to contend with gunfights, disappearances, and death threats. They described seeing family members
murdered or abducted and watching their children being forcibly recruited by those groups. With authorities
often unable to curb the violence and provide redress, many vulnerable women are left with no choice but to
run for their lives.
Fleeing is an ordeal in its own right, and for most women, the journey to safety is a journey through hell. After
paying exorbitant fees to unscrupulous “coyotes,” many women are beaten, raped, and too often killed along
the way. This is the untold story of many refugees from Central America.
Since 2008, UNHCR has recorded a nearly fivefold increase in asylum-seekers arriving to the United States
from the Northern Triangle region of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Over the same period, we have
seen a thirteenfold increase in the number of requests for asylum from within Central America and Mexico –
a staggering indicator of the surging violence shaking the region.
This is not the first refugee crisis the Americas region has faced, but it is nevertheless unique in its complexity.
Solving it requires a comprehensive regional approach based on cooperation, responsibility-sharing, and
solidarity among all countries affected, to ensure that people in need of protection can have access to it.
UNHCR stands ready to support governments in this effort.
António Guterres
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Executive Summary and Recommendations 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Escalating Violence against Women 4
No Safety at Home 4
Fleeing to Find Refuge 6
Recommendations 9
Methodology 12
I. Reasons Women Fled El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
and Mexico 15
Direct Harm by Criminal Armed Groups 19
Threats or Attacks after Failure to Pay Extortion Fees 20
Children Recruited and Killed by Criminal Armed Groups 21
Targeted for Suspected or Actual Involvement in Rival
Criminal Groups 22
Threats to Police or Government Authorities and Their
Family Members 22
Inadequate Protection in Home Countries 23
Severe and Prolonged Domestic Violence 25
Targeted Violence Faced by Transgender Women 27
II. Women as Refugees under International Law 33
International Protection of Refugees in US Law 34
International Protection and Women 35
Domestic Violence as the Basis for International Protection 35
Protecting Families and Children 36
Particular Concerns for LGBTI People Seeking Refugee Status 36
Political Opinion and Violence against Women 38
Religion, Race, and Refugee Status 38
III. Obstacles Women Reported in Seeking International Protection 41
The Journey North 43
Obstacles to Accessing Asylum in Mexico 44
Obstacles to Accessing Asylum in the United States 45
Conclusion 48
Endnotes 50
Acknowledgements 54
UNHCR’S Role in Protecting Women 57
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Today, we are confronted with a global refugee crisis of unprecedented levels,
a crisis that, as shown in this report, deeply affects the Western Hemisphere.
No one knows this better than those fleeing epidemic levels of violence,
including gender-based violence, in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.1
Research conducted over four months found that women face a startling degree
of violence that has a devastating impact on their daily lives. With no protection
at home, women flee to protect themselves and their children from murder,
extortion, and rape. They present a clear need for international protection.
Based on US Department of Homeland Security data covering FY 2015, of
the thousands of women and girls from these countries who expressed a fear
of being returned to their home country and were subject to the credible fear
screening process, US authorities have found that a large percentage have a
significant possibility of establishing eligibility for asylum or protection under the
Convention against Torture.2
A surging tide of violence sweeping across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras
forces thousands of women, men, and children to leave their homes every month.
This region of Central America, known as the Northern Triangle (“Northern Triangle
of Central America” or “NTCA”), is one of the most dangerous places on earth.3
The region has come under increasing control by sophisticated, organized criminal
armed groups, often with transnational reach, driving up rates of murder, gender-
based violence, and other forms of serious harm. According to data from the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras ranks first, El Salvador fifth, and Guatemala
sixth for rates of homicide globally.4 Furthermore, El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras rank first, third, and seventh, respectively, for rates of female
homicides globally.5 In large parts of the territory, the violence has surpassed
governments’ abilities to protect victims and provide redress.6 Certain parts of
Mexico face similar challenges.7
Over the last few years, there has been a sharp escalation in the number of people
fleeing the NTCA. In 2014, tens of thousands sought asylum in the United States,8
and the number of women crossing the US border was nearly three times higher
than in 2013.9 Others have fled to neighboring countries. Combined, Mexico,
Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama have seen the number of asylum
applications from citizens fleeing the NTCA grow to nearly 13 times what it was
in 2008.10
An alarming feature of this refugee crisis is the number of children fleeing home,
with their mothers or alone. Over 66,000 unaccompanied and separated children11
from the NTCA reached the United States in 2014.12 The number of children
2 WOMEN ON THE RUN

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
traveling with their mothers is comparable: recent US Government statistics show

that over 66,000 families arrived to the United States in fiscal year 2014.13
Since 2014, countries of asylum have exerted significant efforts to intensify border
control measures with a view to containing this phenomenon. However, at the end
of August 2015, the United States Government recorded more unaccompanied
children arriving to the United States than in the same month in 2014, and the
number of family arrivals at the close of financial year 2015 is the second largest
on record.14
This report provides first-hand accounts of the severity of the protection crisis
in the NTCA and Mexico. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) interviewed 160 women from these countries in the US from June
to August 2015. Though these women do not represent a statistical sample of
refugees from this region, they have all been either recognized as refugees or
have been screened by the US Government to have a credible or reasonable
fear of persecution or torture.15
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO © 2015 Loris Guzzetta 3
Living in an environment of escalating violence,
Comparative Homicide Rates
women spoke of multiple instances of threats,
extortion, and physical or sexual assault over extended
Global Rate 6.2 periods. In some instances, the harm became so
Honduras 90.4
intolerable that they had no choice but to flee. In
El Salvador* 82.2
other cases, a particular event prompted their
Guatemala 39.9
Mexico
immediate departure, sometimes within hours of an
21.5
Costa Rica 8.5 attack occurring.
United States 4.9 For many of the women interviewed, the increasing
violence from criminal armed groups occurred
Per 100,000 Persons alongside repeated physical and sexual violence
Source: UNODC Global Study on Homicide 2013 at home. Women described life-threatening and
* The homicide rate per 100,000 persons in El Salvador was calculated using
recent crime reports and the 2015 CIA World Fact Book degrading forms of domestic violence, including
repeated rapes, sexual assaults, and violent physical
abuse, such as beatings with baseball bats and other
Escalating Violence against Women weapons. Women repeatedly emphasized that the
police could not protect them from harm. In fact, many
Women interviewed for this report indicated that they
of the women’s abusive partners were members or
and their children face extreme levels of violence
associates of the criminal armed groups, making it
on a near-daily basis. They described being raped,
even harder to seek protection from the authorities.
assaulted, extorted, and threatened by members of
criminal armed groups, including gangs and drug
cartels. Eighty-five per cent of the women described
No Safety at Home
living in neighborhoods under the control of maras The women interviewed for this report were unable to
(criminal armed groups prevalent in the NTCA) or find safety at home. All three countries in the NTCA
other transnational or local criminal groups. have passed legislation addressing violence against
women.16 Nonetheless, the women consistently stated
Sixty-four per cent of the women described being the
that police and other state law enforcement authorities
targets of direct threats and attacks by members of
were not able to provide sufficient protection from the
criminal armed groups as at least one of the primary
violence. More than two-thirds tried to find safety by
reasons for their flight. Women also described
fleeing elsewhere in their own country, but said this
incidents in which gang members murdered or were
did not ultimately help.
responsible for the forced disappearance of a loved
one (e.g. a child, partner, or other close relative). Sixty per cent of the women interviewed reported
Many were asked to pay a cuota, or “tax,” for living or attacks, sexual assaults, rapes, or threats to the
commuting to work in a certain area, and threatened police or other authorities. All of those women said
with physical harm if they could not pay. that they received inadequate protection or no
protection at all.
Women emphasized that the presence of criminal
armed groups in their neighborhoods had a deep Forty per cent of the women interviewed for this
impact on their daily lives. Women increasingly study did not report harm to the police; they viewed
barricaded themselves and their children inside the process of reporting to the authorities as futile.
their homes, unable to go to school or work fearing Some had seen the police fail to provide sufficient
gunfights or direct threats from armed groups. responses to family or friends who had made reports.
Sixty-two per cent of women reported that they were Others felt that criminal armed groups maintained
confronted with dead bodies in their neighborhoods such tight control of their neighborhoods that the
and a number of women mentioned that they and their police were unable to intervene effectively on
children saw dead bodies weekly. their behalf.
4 WOMEN ON THE RUN

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
NORMA’S STORY
The experience of Norma,17 the wife of a police officer from El Salvador, starkly illustrates the threats
facing women and the lack of available State protection. Indeed, the police and their families are targets of
violence in the struggle for power and control in El Salvador.
Before she fled to the United States, Norma lived in a neighborhood she describes as controlled by M-18,
a powerful transnational armed group with a significant presence in El Salvador. She saw routine gunfights
and murders between gang members and had to pay an increasing cuota every two weeks. About 15
days before she fled, a boy was murdered and left in the street near her house.
In late 2014, four gang members abducted her and took her to a nearby cemetery. Three of the four
proceeded to rape her; she believes they targeted her because she was married to a police officer. “They
took their turns....they tied me by the hands. They stuffed my mouth so I would not scream.” When it was
over, she said, “They threw me in the trash.” She contracted a sexually transmitted disease as a result of
the rape.
Her husband, the police officer, vowed revenge. They filed an official report. Norma became increasingly
concerned that the groups were threatening her and her children, and that the police would not be able to
protect her family. “[T]hey’d kill me. Gangs don’t forgive....If they didn’t harm me, they’d harm my children.”
Norma tried to find safety by going to live with her aunt and uncle in another part of El Salvador. She
changed her phone number and “never left the house.” Nonetheless, she and her family were continually
threatened. Having no other option, she and her husband decided that she should leave the country; she
fled through Mexico with a coyote, or human smuggler. Before she left, she wanted to withdraw the police
report, “so no one left behind would be hurt.” However, Norma said her children, who still live with her
husband, “are still being threatened.”
Norma, detained in the United States at the time of her interview with UNHCR, described ongoing trauma
from the rape. She stated that, “I feel dirty, so very dirty. This is why I wake up not wanting to live. I feel I
have sinned, and this sin lives inside me....Sometimes, I wake up and think it was just a nightmare, but
then I feel the pain and remember it was not.”
Ten per cent of the women interviewed stated that with family members or close friends. Many tried to
the police or other authorities were the direct source remain invisible by constantly barricading themselves
of their harm in their home countries. In certain and their children inside the home. Yet women
instances, women described collusion between the repeatedly stated that members of criminal armed
police and criminal armed groups. Several women groups were able to track them when they moved,
from NTCA countries who worked for the police and emphasized that even in new locations, they
themselves or who had family members working continued to experience similar levels of violence.
with the police said refusal to collaborate with maras Women fleeing some parts of Mexico reported
resulted in gang members threatening or attacking problems similar to those of women fleeing the
them or their families. Women emphasized that this NTCA (although to differing degrees). Indeed, in
atmosphere made it very difficult to seek protection. 2014 Mexicans constituted the largest nationality
Sixty-nine per cent of the women interviewed for seeking asylum in the United States.18 Mexico
this report attempted to find safety by going into faces a complex situation, as it is simultaneously
hiding in other parts of their home countries. Women a country of origin, a country of transit, and a
moved to other neighborhoods, often moving in country of asylum.

NTCA Asylum Applications to Mexico & Mexico and NTCA Asylum Applications to
non-NTCA Central American Countries* the United States (2008–2014)
(2008–2014)
2000 40000
35000
1500 30000
25000
1000 20000
15000
500 10000
5000
0 0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
*Including Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panana
Mexican women interviewed for this report fees to smugglers, and being victims of extortion
fled areas under some degree of control by throughout their flight, particularly near the US/
transnational criminal gangs. Women reported Mexico border.
being raped, assaulted, and threatened by Several women from the NTCA mentioned
members of these groups. And, like women from that they took contraceptives before traveling,
the NTCA, some Mexican women described in order to reduce the possibility of becoming
severe domestic violence. Although Mexico pregnant if they were raped during flight. Despite
has taken significant steps in enacting national precautions, many women reported that coyotes
legislation to address violence against women, sexually or physically abused them during transit.
Mexican women interviewed for this report The women interviewed for this report suffered
reflected a lack of trust in the authorities’ capacity serious, targeted human rights violations related
to respond in those areas from which they fled. to protected grounds under the 1951 Convention
UNHCR interviewed 15 transgender19 women from relating to the Status of Refugees. Given the
Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras for this report. demonstrated fear of persecution, and in the
They described similar experiences of gender-based absence of effective State protection, many of
violence and lack of police protection, yet their gender the claims for international protection of women
identity further exacerbated the level of violence they interviewed for this report are likely, upon
experienced. They relayed recurrent discrimination, individual determination, to fall within the scope
beatings, and attacks from family members, romantic of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
partners, clients or employers, and others. of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and related
jurisprudence.20 Their stories are not atypical:
Fleeing to Find Refuge thousands of women fleeing this region may
All the women interviewed for this report be facing similar hardships. Countries hosting
were forced to leave their countries to escape refugees from this emerging crisis should ensure
persecution, yet the journey itself, through that each woman has the opportunity to present
Guatemala and Mexico, presented its own set her case for asylum.
of challenges. Women reported paying high
6 WOMEN ON THE RUN

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO © 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich 7
8 WOMEN ON THE RUN
RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATIONS
The growing refugee situation originating from
the NTCA and Mexico requires a comprehensive
regional approach. Governments have a duty
to manage migration, and must do so using
policies that protect human lives and ensure that
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW individuals fleeing persecution can find safety,
acknowledging that border security and refugee
protection are not mutually exclusive.
© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich
Make Saving Lives the Top Priority including transgender women and
unaccompanied children.
UNHCR calls on governments in the region to:
yy Ensure that all steps taken to manage this xx Strengthening alternatives to detention,
situation are in strict accordance with refugee including various forms of reporting
law, including the fundamental principle of requirements, community and supervision
non-refoulement. schemes, and accommodation in
designated reception centers with
yy Ensure that all migration policies protect
guaranteed freedom of movement. Such
people’s legal right to seek asylum, and refrain
alternatives have proven to be far more
from using detention as a deterrent.
cost-effective than detention.
yy Provide safe and legal avenues to asylum so
xx Avoiding the use of unnecessary immigration
that individuals fleeing their countries do not
detention and other punitive measures.
have to turn to people smugglers.
Deprivation of liberty must be a last resort
Reinforce Host Country Capacity to used only after individualized determination,
Provide Refuge and the best interests of the child must
UNHCR calls on governments in the region to: guide all actions taken in regard to children.
yy Set in place or reinforce individualized yy Bolster efforts to ensure access to fair and
screening procedures to identify the specific efficient asylum procedures, including by:
protection needs of all those arriving. xx Ensuring asylum-seekers, and in particular
yy Ensure that individuals in need of refugee unaccompanied children, have access to
protection can access adequate and humane legal assistance and information on the
reception conditions, including by: right to seek asylum.
xx Reinforcing shelter availability appropriate xx Providing the necessary resources for
for particularly vulnerable groups, domestic adjudication processes to resolve
cases in a timely manner.
10 WOMEN ON THE RUN

xx Allowing for deportation of those who are region, including through refugee resettlement
RECOMMENDATIONS
not found to be in need of protection in a as a strategic and/or emergency protection tool
manner that ensures the return is carried for refugees at a heightened risk.
out with safety and dignity.
Address Root Causes of Displacement
xx Training adjudicators on the application of
UNHCR calls on governments in the region to:
refugee law to people fleeing the NTCA
and parts of Mexico, with particular focus yy Redouble efforts to formulate political solutions
on profiles of individuals at heightened risk that address “push factors” and the root
of persecution such as women subject causes of refugee flows.
to gender-based violence, transgender yy Expand efforts to prosecute traffickers and
women, and unaccompanied children. smugglers while fully respecting the rights
yy Promote durable solutions and collaborate to of victims.
share responsibility for refugee protection in the
WHAT WOMEN WOULD SAY TO GOVERNMENTS
“I think they should combat the gangs. If they catch gang members, don’t let them go.”
– Salvadoran woman
“I’d tell them to work more on security and see what solutions they can provide to break
apart the gangs and traffickers. These are the groups who have arrived and ruined
everything.” – Honduran woman
“Get a president who respects the laws and cares about women’s rights, especially victims
of abuse, whatever abuse. Even though many laws exist to protect us, they don’t enforce
them. They only exist in name.” – Guatemalan woman
“Mexico should create safety and protect women better.” – Mexican woman
“[The US] is the only country near us that can protect us. It’s the nearest to us that actually
enforces its laws.” – Salvadoran woman
“Thank you. I think the US has helped a lot of people who entered this country out of
necessity, fleeing from countries all over the world. We’re thankful for the opportunity. I’m
thankful I get to be part of this.” – Salvadoran woman
“To the US Government, I’d say that those places [detention centers] shouldn’t exist. We
aren’t criminals, we aren’t here to hurt others, we’re hard-working people.”
– Guatemalan woman
“The US leaders should think about how they would treat their own mothers. We just
want to protect our children. The gang members are forcibly recruiting the young people
– especially young men. And the US Government does not understand this. This is one of
the reasons I had to leave, to protect my sons.” – Honduran woman
“The US Government should listen closely to the stories of people fleeing their countries,
because they are leaving out of great necessity.” – Salvadoran woman

METHODOLOGY
UNHCR conducted this report between April and September 2015 to provide
detailed analysis of why women are fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
and Mexico.
This report follows up on two 2014 studies, which examined why unaccompanied
children fled NTCA countries and Mexico. In Children on the Run, UNHCR research
indicated that 58 per cent of the 404 children interviewed in the United States
presented protection concerns, and that if not allowed to lodge an asylum claim,
they could face harm if returned home.21 In Uprooted, UNHCR research found that
nearly 50 per cent of the children interviewed at Mexico’s southern border identified
specific incidents of beatings, intimidation, threats, and insecurity as a reason
for leaving the NTCA.22 Two overarching patterns of harm related to international
protection needs emerged in their first-hand accounts: violence by organized criminal
armed groups and violence in the home.
For this report, UNHCR sought to interview women age 18 or older with Salvadoran,
Guatemala, Honduran, or Mexican nationality. All the women interviewed had most
recently entered the United States on or after 1 October 2013. In order to understand
women’s reasons for flight, UNHCR chose to focus the interviews for this report
on women who had passed either a credible or reasonable fear screening with a
US asylum officer, or had been granted some form of protection in the United States
(such as asylum).23
The design and implementation of the survey were guided by the principles of
confidentiality and voluntary and informed participation. UNHCR distributed a notice
to the US Government, and subsequently identified and arranged interviews with
women who met the parameters described above. UNHCR requested and obtained
access to 11 US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities
nationwide. UNHCR distributed sign-up sheets in each location in advance to allow
women to learn about the project and sign up for an interview slot. UNHCR also
coordinated with legal service providers in the majority of the facilities to identify
interview candidates. A majority of the women were interviewed while in ICE
custody; all interviews took place in spaces that met the confidentiality requirements
of the project.
The interview process included two components: first, a comprehensive informed
consent process to outline UNHCR’s mandate, the purpose of the survey, and
the rights of interviewees, and then a one-on-one interview with a UNHCR team
member. While an option for telephonic interpretation was offered to each woman
at the outset to ensure that the interview took place in a language in which she was
comfortable, none of the women made use of this service. All of the 160 interviews
were conducted in Spanish. Upon the request of some women interviewed in non-
detained settings, lawyers were present during the interviews as observers.
To supplement the women’s voices, UNHCR conducted an extensive literature review
and consulted with experts on both patterns of asylum and country conditions.
12 WOMEN ON THE RUN

© 2015 Loris Guzzetta
This report is based on in-depth, individual interviews conducted by UNHCR

from June to August 2015 with 160 women. The women ranged in age from 18
to 57. 63 women were from El Salvador, 30 from Guatemala, 30 from Honduras,
and 37 from Mexico.
Of the individuals interviewed, 15 are transgender women. Sixty-seven per cent
of the women interviewed are mothers. Of those mothers, 36 per cent traveled
with at least one of their children to the United States. Seven per cent of the
women traveled with a partner or spouse.
Ninety-three per cent of the women had passed their credible or reasonable
fear interviews – the first step in accessing asylum procedures in the United
States.24 The remaining seven per cent of women had been granted asylum,
withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention against Torture in the
United States. Every woman indicated that she fled her country in the pursuit of
protection that she could not receive in her home country.
Ninety-four per cent of the women interviewed were being held in US detention
facilities at the time of the interview; 25 per cent had been in detention for less
than one month, 27 per cent had been in detention for one to three months, and
41 per cent had been in detention for more than three months.

14 WOMEN ON THE RUN
REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR,
REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO
The women from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala interviewed
for this report spoke of pervasive and systemic levels of violence,
connected to increasing territorial influence of criminal armed groups
from which it was nearly impossible to find reprieve. Women from
certain parts of Mexico reported similar issues. In fact, 136 of the
160 women interviewed (from all four countries) stated that they
lived in neighborhoods controlled by criminal armed groups.
In 2014, governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, in
cooperation with UNHCR, established the Brazil Plan of Action to
address forced displacement and statelessness in the Americas,
including a prevention program to strengthen national protection and
assistance mechanisms for populations in NTCA countries.25 As a
complementary action, the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala, and
Honduras unveiled the Alliance for Prosperity, a coordinated plan
amongst the three countries to address to address the underlying
conditions that motivate people to leave their countries.26 The goals
of the initiative are to energize social and economic development,
promote settlement of migrant populations in their own communities,
and implement long-term measures to respond to the underlying
causes of displacement.27 The three governments have made
progress on some of those commitments and have requested
a combined US$ 2.857 billion in funding for 2016 to support
their plan.28 The US has taken significant steps to support these
initiatives and develop further means of addressing root causes of
displacement in the region.29
However, the testimonies of 160 women emphasize that these
long-term efforts have not curbed root causes of displacement or
addressed the urgent humanitarian need. The women from the NTCA
reported multiple reasons for flight. Many women spoke of severe
instances of violence due to maras or other criminal armed groups,
including assaults, extortion, and disappearances or murder of family
members. Likewise, many women described brutal domestic violence.
Many emphasized that being women compounded the difficulties
they faced; this was especially true for transgender women. Sixty per
cent of those interviewed reported harm to the relevant authorities,
but received inadequate protection; 40 per cent believed a police
report would be ineffective or make matters worse and never sought
protection from the authorities. Women from Mexico reported similar
patterns of concerns, although, as discussed below, with differing
levels of severity.
Violence and Insecurity Due to Criminal In the NTCA countries, the presence of criminal
Armed Groups armed groups is pervasive and difficult for the
The violence that women are fleeing from in the government to control. Recent estimates suggest
NTCA stems from increasing territorial control that there are 20,000 gang members in El Salvador,
by organized criminal armed groups. Mara 12,000 in Honduras, and 22,000 in Guatemala.37
Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street (M-18), the Central American “mano dura” (“iron fist”) policies
two most powerful gangs in Central America,30 involved large-scale government efforts to crack
alongside other groups, engage in brutal down on gang violence, but recent data shows their
killings, assaults, robberies, and widespread effectiveness has been limited.38 El Salvador, in
extortion.31 Murder rates in the region are among particular, is facing the highest rates of murder since
the highest in the world: according to data from the end of the civil war in 1992.39 Police and their
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras family members are now specifically targeted.40
ranks first, El Salvador fifth, and Guatemala The women interviewed for this report emphasized
sixth.32 Impunity for murder and violent crime is that the presence of gangs and cartels had a deep
widespread,33 reflecting inadequate government imprint on their daily lives. Approximately 62 per cent
capacity to provide safety,34 especially for of the women reported having directly witnessed
women.35 In fact, El Salvador, Guatemala, violent crime in their communities. Roughly the same
and Honduras rank first, third, and seventh, percentage (62 per cent) of the women had seen
respectively, for rates of female homicides dead bodies in their neighborhoods. A number of
globally.36 women mentioned they came across dead bodies
Women interviewed emphasized that increasing on at least a weekly basis. Women described
power of gangs and other criminal groups posed increasingly barricading themselves and their
particular dangers for women. Nelly, a young children inside their homes, avoiding certain areas
Honduran woman, said: “The gangs treat women and not taking public transit, being unable to leave
much worse than men. They want us to join as the home to commute to work or school to hide
members, but then women are also threatened to be from gunfights, and keeping children inside after the
gang members’ ‘girlfriends,’ and it’s never just sex children had witnessed acts of violence or death.
with the one; it’s forced sex with all of them. Women One Guatemalan woman said, “In the local market,
are raped by them, tortured by them, abused the people from the cartel put the dead body of a
by them.” woman on public display to strike fear into everyone.”
For a number of the women interviewed, residing
in this type of environment led directly to the
targeted threats or violence that precipitated
Comparative Homicide Rates
their flight. Nearly every woman spoke of multiple
traumas throughout her life. In some cases, the
Global Rate 6.2
harm worsened or compounded over time until
Honduras 90.4
El Salvador* 82.2
they reached a “breaking point” and realized they
Guatemala 39.9 had to leave as soon as possible. In other cases, a
Mexico 21.5 particular event forced women to flee immediately,
Costa Rica 8.5 sometimes within a few hours following a threat
United States 4.9 or attack.
Brutal Domestic Violence
Per 100,000 Persons
The increased activity of criminal armed groups
Source: UNODC Global Study on Homicide 2013
* The homicide rate per 100,000 persons in El Salvador was calculated using and accompanying violence has occurred in
recent crime reports and the 2015 CIA World Fact Book
societies already affected by high rates of violence
16 WOMEN ON THE RUN

against women.41 Domestic violence in the three severe harm, as well as the widespread impunity

Central American countries is commonplace and for acts of violence, are pervasive examples of the
is rarely discussed openly.42 lack of trust in government institutions and point
A common theme among women interviewed was to the basic structural challenges to rule of law,
that, due to their gender, they were both targets of citizen security, and justice.45
violence and unable to find adequate protection. Violence in Mexico
As Claudia, a Salvadoran woman who suffered
According to women who participated in this
domestic violence at the hands of her gang-
report, some of the problems women face in the
affiliated husband, explained: “The whole reason
NTCA are reflected in certain parts of Mexico.
I was in danger was because I was a woman.
Women interviewed for this report came from
A man feels like he is entitled to physical and
areas under the influence of criminal armed
emotional power over you.”
groups, and often encountered problems securing
All three NTCA countries have made some effort protection from police or other state authorities.
to put in place laws to protect women from Notably, in 2014, Mexico surpassed China as
Sexual and Gender Based Violence.43 Yet the the country with the highest number of nationals
legal frameworks offer only limited protection requesting asylum in the United States.46
to women and have not been effectively
Lana, a Mexican woman, described how, as a
implemented, according to US Department of
woman, she experienced life in her village of
State reports.44 Under-reporting of instances of
origin: “Everything affects you because there, a

woman is worthless. It is as though your life is not Mexico has passed several laws intended to
worth anything. They [cartel members] rape. There give women the right to equality and a life free of
is no limit. There is no authority. There is no one to violence,51 and all 32 Mexican states have created
stop them.” and passed their own laws to address violence
In recent years, Mexican drug cartels have against women.52 However, reporting remains low:
extended their reach towards Central America and reports by the United Nations, nongovernmental
have increasingly built links with major criminal organizations, and the US Department of State
armed groups there, including MS-13 and indicate various causes for low reporting of rates
M-18.47 Cartels fighting over drug route control of violence against women, including authorities’
has been a significant source of violence, leading ineffective approach to victims, and a perception
to more than 80,000 deaths in Mexico since that cases will not be prosecuted.53
2006.48 Police and judicial corruption, as well as a Indeed, Mexican women interviewed for this report
lack of structural and institutional capacity, leaves reflected a lack of trust in the authorities’ response
many citizens without legal recourse or protection in certain parts of Mexico. One young woman
against violence by cartels.49 The US Department said the police did “nothing” when her brother
of State observes that significant problems with was kidnapped, therefore, she subsequently
violence against women persist in Mexico, with “didn’t report when the police beat and raped me
forced disappearances and sexual violence because I was afraid.”
particular issues in the border regions.50
18 WOMEN ON THE RUN

Direct Harm by Criminal Armed Groups criminal armed groups had targeted family

members for disappearance or death. Many of
More than 60 per cent of women interviewed for the women’s partners or other family members
this report described direct threats and attacks by had not shared what was occurring; thus, the
various criminal armed groups as at least one of disappearance or murder was the first, and tragic,
the primary reasons for their flight. indication. Yet many women concluded that they
Some women described incidents in which could not be safe in their home countries after
criminal armed groups forcibly disappeared experiencing the death or disappearance of a
or murdered a loved one, whether a spouse, family member, a sentiment compounded by the
child, parent, sibling, or other relative or close unwillingness or inability of the police or other
friend. These cases generally involved threats authorities to provide protection.
or extortion. In other cases, women themselves Indigenous women faced particularly high rates of
received death threats from criminal armed groups violence, including sexual violence, from criminal
after an attack on a family member, and fled to armed groups: of the 15 indigenous women
avoid harm to themselves or other remaining interviewed for this report, 12 reported that
family members. they had been physically abused and 11
In many cases, the woman in question did not sexually abused. One indigenous woman from
know why she received direct threats or why

Honduras, for example, said: “The gang members one. Sometimes after the payment of a hefty fee,
were persecuting and threatening me....They the loved one was released to the care of the
used to tell me that they were going to kill me family, but more often than not, the kidnapped
and my children....they had already killed two of family member never returned home.
[my friend’s] brothers, because he was a gang Velma, a woman from an area of Mexico with a
member....They were upset with the father of my heavy presence of criminal armed groups, was
children and wanted money.” asked for ransom when her sister was kidnapped.
Velma paid the first two installments, but missed
Threats or Attacks after Failure the third. She reported that the cartel sent a letter
to Pay Extortion Fees threatening that she had 12 hours to leave town
Many women living in areas with widespread or she would be killed. Velma fled that day, as she
presence of criminal armed groups fled in was unable to pay. She has never heard from her
part because they were constantly subject to sister again, and presumes she was killed.
extortion, with escalating physical threats if they In NTCA countries, many women were targeted
were unable to pay. Some women reported they for extortion if they or their family were viewed or
were asked to pay a cuota for working, living, or perceived as (even moderately) successful. Gloria,
transiting an area. Others reported being asked a Honduran woman, made and sold small amounts
to pay ransom for the return of a kidnapped loved of food from her house. “I had to stop selling tortillas
20 WOMEN ON THE RUN

Children Recruited and Killed by

Agents of Persecution, as Reported
by Women* Criminal Armed Groups
Some women from NTCA countries reported
Other
21
Threatened or harmed
direct and devastating threats and attacks on
by relative or partner/
spouse
their children, and five women reported that their
25
children had been killed. Many more women from
39
4 this region feared that criminal groups would
46
14 forcibly recruit or otherwise abuse their children,
4
Threatened or harmed by 7 Threatened or
and this contributed to flight.
maras or other criminal harmed by
armed groups police or other Gloria, from Honduras, told UNHCR that
authorities
members of a criminal armed group abducted
her 13-year-old grandson, and “when we finally
found his body, it was at the morgue. They had
cut his head off, tied his hands and feet, cut
Top 3 Traumas Suffered, as Reported him all over.” After her grandson’s death, Gloria
by Women* and her family fled to another part of the Honduran
city where they lived. But they received continuing
threats from the same people they believed
Threats of Harm abducted the boy, and eventually fled the country.
to Women
14
Nelly, a young woman from Honduras, stated
that a criminal armed group murdered her
4 13
nephew (who lived with her) because he refused
70
to be recruited and was suspected of having
4 6 allegiances to another armed group. “[B18]
Sexual Harm 4 Physical Harm wanted [my nephew] to join them and said if
he did not, that meant he was a member of the
other gang, their rival. He refused to join. They
increased their threats. After a year…they killed
* The 160 women interviewed for this report
him.” Nelly and her family found the body three
and other foods from my home, because when B18 days later at the morgue. “We reported the murder
[a Honduran gang] arrived, they wanted me to pay a to the police, but they never do anything,” Nelly
certain amount to them, and I could not.” said. “The same police are working at the gang’s
side....They passed our report on to the gang, and
In other cases, criminal armed groups in the
the gang knew we’d reported them.” Nelly and her
NTCA learned that women had family or friends in
family fled almost immediately. “We decided to
the United States who were sending them money,
move the next day…We knew the gang realized
and demanded that they pay high fees. If women
we’d made the report, so we decided to go,
missed payments, they received death threats
because we knew we’d be next.”
or direct attacks by the criminal armed groups.
Angelica, from Mexico, owed money to a cartel Many women reported that they faced direct
in her area. When she was late on a payment, threats themselves after trying to protect their
members of the group “came and took photos of children from recruitment or abduction. “Gang
me and my kids, and said they were going to kill members tried to recruit my 10-year-old son to
me. They even called my mother in New York and sell drugs, and then threatened us when we did
told her that I had to pay. So I decided to leave.” not comply,” stated Sara from Guatemala.

Many women described worrying about children enforcement. The woman and her family noted
they had been forced to leave behind. One suspicious people following and monitoring them
Salvadoran woman, for instance, was only able to constantly. They moved many times within the
bring some of her children with her when she fled. region to find safety, to no avail. One day they
“My daughters are still in El Salvador and I worry returned home to find death threats written on
for their safety,” she said. “I worry that they will be their doorstep, alluding to the brother’s situation.
killed by the gangs. I took my son and grandson The woman and her family fled to the United
to the US so they wouldn’t be recruited into the States immediately, seeking protection.
gangs, but I couldn’t take my daughters as well. I
am very worried for them.” Threats to Police or Government
Authorities and Their Family Members
Targeted for Suspected or Actual Several women from NTCA countries said they
Involvement in Rival Criminal Groups either worked directly for the police or had a family
Women from the NTCA interviewed for this member who worked with the police or other
report explained that refusal to join an armed authorities. According to these women, police
group in their countries might be taken as a sign officers or government authorities who refused
of allegiance to a rival group. Other inadvertent to collaborate with the gangs were threatened,
activities, like being new to a neighborhood or attacked, or killed. Their family members often
accidentally crossing boundaries between armed faced risks of persecution by association. Women
groups, could also lead to suspicion of rival explained that threats and attacks on police and
gang membership. other authorities made it very difficult to seek
In some cases, including in Mexico, women whose protection and contributed to a generalized feeling
family members were involved in criminal armed of impunity and insecurity.
groups reported also being victims of gangs’ Norma, the wife of a police officer in El Salvador,
threats. For instance, one woman, whose brother faced extortion from a criminal armed group, and
had been reportedly involved with a powerful then was attacked by four gang members when
Mexican cartel, explained that she suffered when she refused to pay. “Three of the four raped me,”
her brother decided to collaborate with US law she said. “They took their turns....They tied me
22 WOMEN ON THE RUN

by the hands. They stuffed my mouth so I would

Women Seeking State Protection
not scream. They took off my clothing. They then
threw me in the trash.” She said it happened
Did not seek state
because her husband is a policeman, and she protection, stating
worried her children would also be harmed. they saw it as
ineffective (40%)
“They’d kill me. Gangs don’t forgive....I knew if 64
they didn’t harm me, they’d harm my children.” Sought state
Without any way to find protection, Norma fled 96 protection and
did not receive
to the United States. Even her husband, the adequate
policeman, felt powerless to act. “He feels so protection (60%)
useless…he wants to protect me, to do whatever
he can for me.”
The mother of a police officer in El Salvador
described how criminal armed groups threatened severe, women from Mexico also described
her son when he refused to support them. problems seeking protection.
Instead of receiving the protection of his police In the search for protection, 69 per cent of
colleagues, he was punished. “My son went a women interviewed moved within their own
number of times, he asked his bosses to help country, unable to find protection in their home
him, as a police officer. They in fact lowered him areas.54 Some moved multiple times, attempting
to a lower grade.” The armed groups started to hide, but none found safety. In many cases, the
threatening her because of her son’s behavior. perpetrators of abuse tracked them or threatened
She, too, sought police protection, but received to harm family members if they did not return.
no meaningful help. Sixty per cent of the women interviewed reported
Some women from Mexico also described threats abuse, threats, or other harm to the police but
to the police. For instance, Dania, a young Mexican received little help, if any. The rest of the women
woman, stated that her female neighbor, who — 40 per cent — never attempted to file police
worked for the police, was threatened and killed complaints, having seen friends or family do so
when she refused to work with local cartels. to no avail, or simply believing that, given the
According to Dania, the armed group offered the pervasive presence of criminal armed groups, the
neighbor 5,000 pesos (approximately US$ 300) police would have no effect.
to work with them, but she refused. Dania’s mother In fact, 10 per cent of the women interviewed
offered to hide the neighbor, but “the [cartels] told stated that the police or other authorities were
her that if she didn’t turn herself in, they would the direct source of their harm. Five of the 16
start to kill her family.” Dania relayed that the armed women reported to have suffered direct police
group killed the neighbor. “I went to see her body,” abuse were transgender, a group particularly likely
said Dania. “They had shot her.” to be targeted because of their gender identity.
Police collusion with criminal armed groups
Inadequate Protection was one of the most pervasive concerns for the
in Home Countries women interviewed. Women described family
The women interviewed drew a stark picture members or friends in the police who were
of their societies where they saw the State as pressured by illegal groups to collaborate. When
corrupt or inept, working in conjunction with illegal they refused to collaborate with the armed groups,
armed actors, or as the direct perpetrators of these police officers were threatened or killed.
the harm the women suffered. While examples Women interviewed had lost trust in the ability
given by women fleeing the NTCA are particularly of their governments to protect them from the

threats they had experienced and the harm they always contracted by the same gang members.
feared. They simply felt they could not find safety They don’t do anything for people who really need
at home. “We cannot go back to Honduras,” said it. They’re only on the side of the gang members.”
one woman in her late 30s. “They will kill us. With Sometimes women were unable to report
the gangs it is very difficult....The gang members incidents and threats due to bureaucratic excuses.
wear the same vests and use the same guns “I went to the public ministry to file a complaint
that the police do. How do they get hold of about [my husband’s abduction] and they told me
these guns and vests? From the police.” that I needed to have a document to say I was the
Women Who Reported Harm to Authorities, wife,” reported one woman from Mexico. “They
But Received Inadequate Protection said they couldn’t do anything [.]”
All of the women who said they reported Some women, after trying to make official reports,
persecution to the authorities in the NTCA and described being threatened by authorities. Natalia,
Mexico stated that they received no protection or a woman from Michoacán State in Mexico,
inadequate protection. approached the police about her common-law
Many women viewed the reporting of persecution husband’s disappearance. After witnessing
as an entirely futile process. For instance, Nelly, masked men break into her home, abduct her
the young woman from Honduras, reported partner, then leave in a federal police vehicle,
various incidents around her nephew’s murder Natalia contacted authorities to find out whether
to the police, to no avail. She first reported the her partner was being held in custody. He was
criminal armed group’s attempted recruitment not. She repeatedly sought information from
of her nephew, and received no assistance. Her various authorities. A forensics official showed
next complaint to the police was to report that the her a tortured body and told her that this “this
group had murdered her nephew. “They never do is what they do to people who ask too many
anything,” she said about the authorities. “They’re questions.” When she continued to complain,
24 WOMEN ON THE RUN

authorities told her, “You will only get yourself Many of the women’s abusive partners were

into problems if you keep it up.” Natalia started members or associates of criminal armed
receiving direct threats from a powerful criminal groups. These women stated that because
cartel and fled to the United States. Her partner these groups were often the highest powers in
was never found. their neighborhoods, they did not believe the
government could protect them. “My husband was
Women Who Chose Not to Report
to Authorities connected with the maras. When he abused me, I
knew there was nowhere I could go,” said Claudia
Forty per cent of the women interviewed chose
from El Salvador. “There is no way to escape
not report harm to the authorities at all, having
them.”
seen others fail to gain protection in similar
circumstances. A Guatemalan woman, whose partner was
abusive, emphasized intrinsic links between
Particularly in NTCA countries, some women
the domestic violence she experienced and the
felt that police were unable to help because the
violence in her neighborhood: “Twice, I saw the
neighborhoods were so controlled by the criminal
gang kill two young men who approached the
armed groups. Other women had received direct
block. My ex required me to watch...it was a
threats that they or family members would be
way of making me more afraid, weaker. How
killed if they went to the authorities. For instance,
they screamed and begged for their life, I can’t
Sandra, from El Salvador, described direct threats
forget it.”
she received after her son-in-law was murdered.
“[A] narco and his father began threatening Physical and Sexual Violence in the Home
my daughter and me. They are narcos, but are The most common form of domestic abuse
affiliated with [a criminal group]. They thought that reported by the women interviewed was at the
I had denounced them to the police after they hands of their husbands or domestic partners.
killed my son-in-law, even though that was not Notably, a significant number of the women who
true....They threatened us multiple times. They described surviving domestic violence were
would drive by slowly, armed with guns. They also not officially married to their abusive partners,
killed a cat and a dog and left them dismembered but nonetheless suffered severe harm and were
in front of our house.” unable to leave that partner and find protection
Many women spoke of the collusion of the police elsewhere in their country.
with the armed criminal actors. “The police and The forms of abuse described were varied and
the maras work together,” said Alexa from often life-threatening. Women described repeated
El Salvador. “It’s useless to go to the police. rapes and sexual assaults. In addition, the women
They let everyone go after 48 hours. If you call detailed instances of violent physical abuse,
the police, you just get into more problems.” including: beatings with hands, a baseball bat,
and other weapons; kicking; threats to do bodily
Severe and Prolonged harm with knives; and repeatedly being thrown
Domestic Violence against walls and the ground. The abuse occurred
both inside the home and in public. Many women
Women interviewed for this report described
described being in constant fear. One woman
prolonged instances of physical, sexual, and
described her partner’s calculated decisions
psychological domestic violence, for which
about how to beat her: “He was smart. He did not
authorities provided no meaningful help. Unable
hit me in a way that left bruises, so there was not
to secure state protection, many women cited
evidence for others to see.”
domestic violence as a reason for flight, fearing
severe harm or death if they stayed. A rape survivor from Guatemala described
constant and debilitating abuse. “My husband

abused me verbally and physically on a regular by her husband for several years. She tried to flee,
basis. He kept me locked in the house. I wore my but he tracked her to several different cities before
hair pulled back, and sometimes he would grab she ultimately fled to the United States.
my hair, shove my face near the fire, and ask ‘Are One Honduran woman fled after years of abuse
you fine here?’ Or he would hold a knife to my escalated to the point of her husband nearly killing
neck and ask the same thing. I had to respond her. He severely beat her many times, often in front
‘yes.’ To me, this is not a life.” of her young children. Yet one incident stood out in
Another woman from El Salvador endured her mind. On this evening, the woman’s husband
escalating levels of physical and sexual violence came home drunk and she did not want to be near
for years. “He’d demand that I have sex with him, so she slept on the sofa. “In the middle of the
him, and sometimes I did not want to. And he’d night, I felt like water was falling on me. I woke up
then take me by force. He said I was his,” she and he was urinating on my face and body.”
explained. “He’d throw the table, the utensils....
Lack of State Protection
Sometimes he put the iron to me, hit me with a
Survivors of domestic violence stated that
belt, cut me. I have scars. But I always took it. He’ll
authorities in NTCA countries were unable or
hit the wall with his fists until his fists bleed. He
unwilling to help them. One Salvadoran woman
has so much anger and so much hurt. This scares
recalled that she was “standing in front of the
me. I really think he’ll kill me now. He’s so violent.”
police, bleeding, and the police said, ‘Well, he’s
The physical and sexual abuse was often
your husband.’” Another Salvadoran woman
accompanied by psychological abuse, including
stated: “One time the police came to our home,
isolation, stalking, and threats to harm family
but they said that because this was a case of
members. Nearly every woman who survived
domestic violence, we could resolve it between
domestic abuse recalled being called a “slut,”
ourselves. I do not have confidence in the police.”
“whore,” or “prostitute” by her partner. Mariela, a
Mexican woman, said she was “beaten like a man”
26 WOMEN ON THE RUN

In the rare cases where police arrested the friends in high places. My parents were really

perpetrators of abuse, the perpetrators were worried because he threatened everyone. I moved
generally released within a few days. “I reported several times to get away from him, but it never
my husband to the police once,” explained a worked.” She fled to save her life and those of
woman from Honduras. “They detained him, but her family.
only for 24 hours, and then he was released and Women who fled alone and left children in their
was even more angry.” Another Honduran woman, home countries expressed deep worries about
whose mother had been abused by the woman’s their children and other family members left
father and later her stepfather, sometimes made behind. Some women described situations in
official complaints on her mother’s behalf. But it which their children still lived with the woman’s
was useless, she says. “They put them in jail for abuser. Others described situations in which the
24 hours and then they are out.” children were hidden with a family member, but
Most of the women interviewed reported that the woman feared that the abusive partner or
they had suffered intimate partner violence for father would be able to find them. In some cases,
a prolonged period, often years. They either that fear came true, and the women knew their
experienced one specific instance that caused children were now with the abusive party.
them to flee on the spot, or someone offered to Many women reported that they had spoken with
help them and they took advantage and left as family members at home who told them that their
soon as they could. For instance, Carolina, from partners – or their armed criminal associates –
Honduras, reported that her husband forced continue to look for the women. When the
her and her children into the car and threatened abused women’s situations cause threats to
to drive them over a cliff. “He said he loved me their family members, whether parents, siblings,
and would rather kill all of us than me leave him,” children, or others, they often feel even more
she said. The car had a mechanical problem, isolated and unprotected. In some cases, the
and her husband was not able to carry out the family members are supportive. In others, they
threat. Rather than go to the authorities, Carolina are not. A number of women whose mothers had
contacted her brother and arranged to flee the suffered domestic violence talked about being
country immediately. She was forced to leave under pressure to stay in abusive relationships
her children behind and continues to worry with their domestic partners.
about them.
Threats to Harm Family Targeted Violence Faced by
Many women reported that, if they tried to leave, Transgender Women
their abuser threatened to harm their families, For this report, UNHCR interviewed 15 trans-
including their parents, siblings, and children. gender women from El Salvador, Honduras, and
Mothers stated that it was common that their Mexico. They experienced many of the issues
abusive domestic partners would use children as faced by all the women interviewed. In addition,
pawns in the relationship. Some of the partners the transgender women UNHCR interviewed
would threaten to take full custody in court, some faced numerous additional concerns that added
physically took the children, and others simply to their persecution. They reported routine dis-
threatened to have the children killed. crimination, harassment, beatings, and attacks on
A Guatemalan woman in her early 20s had them or their friends, as well as forced sex work.
become a target of her well-connected abusive Transgender women repeatedly emphasized that
boyfriend. “I came [to the United States] because the police provided no protection and in some
my parents were receiving death threats. My instances perpetrated further harm.
boyfriend was really, really abusive and he had

Acute Discrimination and Harassment their parents, or were threatened or attacked in

Many of the transgender women interviewed school. Sara, a transgender woman from Mexico,
talked of being confronted by constant had to leave school around age 9 or 10 “because
discrimination, harassment, and the threat of [my classmates] hit me with rocks.” She says
violence on a daily basis. Simply leaving the house the abuse occurred because she “was very
was often a cause for discrimination and potential feminine.”
physical violence. “People on the street would The transgender women interviewed described
verbally and physically assault me often,” said a how the pervasive cultural stigma and
transgender woman from El Salvador. Elisabeth, discrimination impacted their ability to find safe
from Mexico, echoed the risk of being outside her access to the legal employment market. One
home: “In Mexico, if anyone sees you [wearing woman from Honduras explains: “I had to quit
women’s clothing], they make fun of you or throw every job I ever had because of the risks
things at you, or people might hit you.” encountered. I found work after my friend was
A number of the transgender women interviewed murdered at a restaurant, but they fired me
had been kicked out of the house or shunned after three people came to look for me and kill
by family for years after coming out as gay or me. The owner said it was too dangerous for him,
transgender. (Several of the women spoke of his workers and the clients to have me there as a
coming out as gay when they were young, and result. He was correct, but it didn’t help me.”
only later also realizing their gender identity as Sonia shared that she found legal employment
transgender.) Maria, from El Salvador, said, “I had working with her community doing outreach and
to leave my home because my parents kicked me education to youth and had previously worked as
out of the house when I was 11 and had come out a sex worker. “I did not want to be a prostitute,
as gay. I could not afford to pay for school on my but there are not many options for transgender
own, so I had to stop studying.” people in El Salvador. I was forced to do it.” One
Most of the transgender women left school early Mexican woman echoed this. “The majority of
because they were kicked out of their homes by [transgender] people are forced to prostitute.”
28 WOMEN ON THE RUN

Their discriminatory lack of access to safe work throughout the town. They said we had to be killed

escalated their risk of serious harm. so we wouldn’t infect others.”
“A transgender person is constantly threatened The transgender women who participated in sex
and anyone could do harm to you for your work reported being extorted and sexually or
appearance alone. Being transgender, very physically assaulted by clients, their employers,
simply, is impossible.” and the authorities. One transgender woman
from El Salvador said: “I was constantly beaten
Sexual and Physical Violence
and raped when doing sex work – by clients [and
Transgender women described numerous
the] police, who also forced me to pay a cuota
examples of having seen friends attacked, raped,
of $15-20 a week, or more. I did eventually go
and killed. The trauma of these experiences
and put in a claim with the national police office
contributed to acute fear in the women that they,
because I thought I should. I was very scared.
too, would be subject to similar incidents.
But I knew I had to leave.”
Sara from Mexico described what happened
Another transgender woman from El Salvador
to a transgender friend, Jacqueline: “[Cartels
described a similar situation that caused her to
in Tijuana] kidnapped her and brought her to a
flee: “I made a criminal complaint against the
garage and cut off two of her toes, and raped
police officials who raped and beat me, and I
her many times. They told her that they would kill
am afraid they will kill me…They kill trans women
someone from her family if she reported them.”
often. I had many friends who were murdered.”
Unable to identify whether it was gangs or cartels
Laura, a transgender woman in her 30s from
in Mexico, Betty witnessed a different group “kill a
Mexico who had moved within the country several
friend who was a trans woman. They stabbed her
times already, went to Tijuana to find safety.
like 12 times. They put her in a barrel and they
“[T]hey are near the US and maybe I could be
put gas [on it] and they lit it on fire.”
safer there. I was wrong.” She continued: “In
One commonality amongst the transgender
Tijuana, the police raped and beat me. [Then] the
women interviewed by UNHCR for this report,
police told me if they saw me again in the city
regardless of background or country of origin,
they would kill me…They were afraid that I would
was that each had been repeatedly abused and
say something.”
assaulted, often both sexually and physically.
Many of the women survived sexual abuse and
rape by numerous people throughout their lives
– including family members, clients or employers,
“I saw the [drug cartel] kill someone on the
romantic partners, and the authorities. street as I was leaving school. They saw me
One transgender woman’s testimony underscored running away. The threats started this day.
the severity of the multiple harms she survived in They told me if I said anything or moved,
Mexico with the following, “I lived on the street they’d kill me. They’d look for me, find me
and didn’t have anyone. When I was seven years and kill me. The[y] had raped me twice,
old, a cousin raped me for five years. My mom kidnapped me four times, beat my partner,
blamed me [and] started beating me to punish and mistreated me in so many other ways.
me. Before leaving, five of my friends were more They’d said they’d kill me. They also said if
or less buried alive. I lived with them. That’s also I didn’t leave, they’d find my family and kill
why the police pursued me. They burned some them, too. So, I decided to go.”
of us alive, because they said we had AIDS. They
said if our bodies remained, our virus would run
ANYA FROM HONDURAS

Lack of State Protection of three men grabbed me, beat me, raped me,
Transgender women interviewed described the and I escaped from them after three hours. I went
impossibility of finding safety at home, being to San Pedro Sula to make the report. I was so
unable to get protection from authorities, and beat up, and they wouldn’t take my report. They
being unable to relocate within their country. didn’t want to listen to me at all. Thus, I went to
A number of transgender women noted that Tegucigalpa. I lived alone, and my ex-boyfriend
the same types of problems – discrimination, who was living in the US paid for me to have a
harassment, and serious physical and sexual bodyguard.” When we asked her why she left
violence – existed wherever they tried to flee Honduras, she explained, “I was not safe. I’ve
inside their countries and they could not find any tried to be in different cities [in Honduras], and it’s
protection or refuge at home. always the same. I’ve made 30 reports, and the
“Leaving my work one day, a group of people police have never done anything.”
attacked me because I was a homosexual. They Transgender women told UNHCR they had no
beat me, and I had to go to the hospital. I didn’t way of reporting abuse or finding protection. Sara
know who they were, but they hate transgender said, “I saw many times that the police would beat
people. I was in the hospital for eight days.” my trans friends…in the center and downtown
Later, Alma from Honduras stood up to a group Tijuana. I never reported it because if I report it
who was harassing her on the street and told and they find out, the one who suffers would be
them they lacked respect for her. Again, she was me. It’s amazing that many of us survive,” she said.
beaten. “I was screaming and asking people to “There are murders of transgenders [sic] and we
help me, but no one would help me. No one would cannot complain.”
even call the police.” A different time, a “group
30 WOMEN ON THE RUN

32 WOMEN ON THE RUN
WOMEN AS REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
This section addresses categories in refugee law that apply to some women fleeing
the NTCA to the United States.
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol
relating to the Status of Refugees55 (the Refugee Convention or Convention, and the
Protocol) define a refugee as a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to,
or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”56
Both the Convention and the Protocol prohibit the return of persons who meet the
criteria of “refugee” to their country of origin.
The United States became a party to the Protocol57 in 1968,58 and incorporated the
substantive provisions into domestic US law in 1980.59
Since then, US courts have expressly relied on UNHCR interpretations and
especially the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee
Status (Handbook)60 in assessing refugee claims,61 and have recognized that
UNHCR’s “analysis provides significant guidance for issues of refugee law.”62
UNHCR has given authoritative commentary on determining refugee status with
specific consideration of gender.63 UNHCR’s long-standing interpretation of
refugee law recognizes that gender violence (including intimate partner violence);
family association; political opinion; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex
(LGBTI) status; and racial or indigenous status, among others,64 meet the criteria for
protection.
Women who are subject to gender-based violence in a specific country may qualify
for both refugee protection and “complementary protection” under US law. This
includes Temporary Protected Status, where the Secretary of Homeland Security
declares such a country to be unsafe for reasons typically related to violence or
natural disaster.65
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO © 2015 UNHCR/Mark Redondo 33
International Protection of Refugees ground need not be the exclusive reason for the
persecution, and a “reason” may reference more
in US Law than one Convention ground. The United States
The “well-founded” element of the refugee accepts UNHCR’s position that the Convention
definition requires the applicant to show a ground need only be a “relevant contributing
“reasonable fear under the circumstances,” factor, though it need not be shown to be the sole,
but does not, according to UNHCR, impose or dominant, cause” of the persecution.74 Under
the higher probability standard of “more US law, a protected ground must be “at least one
likely than not.”66 The United States adopted central reason”75 for the persecution suffered
UNHCR’s interpretation, so that a “well- or anticipated, but need not be the exclusive or
founded fear” is defined as a “reasonable dominant reason. Reasons for persecution may
possibility,” a significantly lower standard than be mixed; a protected ground need not be the
that of a “probability.”67 Other States Parties exclusive reason or cause.76
to the Refugee Convention similarly reject
The Convention grounds include race, religion,
the “probability” standard.68 So interpreted,
nationality, membership in a particular social
the well-founded fear standard reflects the
group, and political opinion.
international community’s recognition of refugees’
trauma and difficulty in telling their stories and The political opinion ground includes not only
in presenting documentary proof in support of beliefs associated with formal political parties, but
their claims. In addition to the well-founded fear, also protected political beliefs and opinions that
US law adds “past persecution” to the refugee may include any assertions or expressions related
definition’s standard of proof, so that proof of past to basic human rights. Political opinions may be
persecution is a distinct basis for eligibility;69 it
usually creates a presumption of a well-founded
fear, though under some circumstances, past PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUP
persecution alone can result in a grant of
refugee protection.70
UNHCR defines a “particular social
Demonstrating persecution entails showing group” as a group of persons who share
serious harm (for instance, a serious human a common characteristic other than their
rights violation) and a State’s refusal or inability to risk of being persecuted, or who are
offer effective protection.71 UNHCR recognizes perceived as a group by society.80 The
that forms of harm that are gender specific, characteristic will often be one that is innate,
most prominently sexual violence, constitute unchangeable, or is otherwise fundamental
such serious harm.72 Rape, for example, is a to the identity, conscience, or the exercise
form of serious harm within the meaning of of one’s human rights.
persecution, due not only to the physical harm,
In the US context, “particular social group”
but also because of the severe and long-lasting
was first defined in terms of an immutable
psychological harm that it causes.73
characteristic. As discussed below in more
To meet the Refugee Convention’s refugee detail, certain particular social groups, such
definition, persecution must be “for reasons as family and LGBTI status, have been seen
of” a protected ground (such as race, religion, as a protected ground in the United States
or political opinion), a causal link between the for some decades. In later years, US law
well-founded fear of persecution and one or has increasingly accepted cases involving
more Convention grounds (referred to as the domestic violence under this rubric.
“nexus” requirement in US law). A Convention
34 WOMEN ON THE RUN

express or imputed,77 and include views regarding

the treatment and rights of women.78 WOMEN AND PARTICULAR
The race and nationality grounds refer SOCIAL GROUP
to physical or innate actual or perceived
characteristics. Indigenous people are included Certain women seeking asylum in the United
in these grounds, which is especially relevant to States may be able to build a case for refugee
claims (including women’s claims) from Guatemala status using the “particular social group”
and neighboring countries. ground. UNHCR interprets particular social
group in the context of gender as defined by
Protection from religious persecution and the
gender alone or by gender in combination
right to hold religious beliefs and practice one’s with other characteristics.81 Indeed, UNHCR’s
religion are fundamental, with long-standing Guidelines on Gender-Related Persecution
recognition under international human rights within the Context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951
law. UNHCR has described and interpreted this Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating
ground in Guidelines on International Protection: to the Status of Refugees (Gender Guidelines)
Religion-Based Refugee Claims.79 state “[W]omen [are] a clear example of a
social subset defined by innate and immutable
International Protection and Women characteristics…and who are frequently
treated differently than men.”82
All of the Convention grounds in the refugee
United States jurisprudence, for the most
definition apply, of course, to women as well as
part, also supports defining “particular
men. In recent decades, the persecution alleged by
social group” to encompass gender. Several
many women seeking asylum in the United States federal courts have held that gender itself
has been for reasons relating to membership in a can define “particular social group,”83 and US
“particular social group.” In addition, women like administrative authorities (whose guidance
those profiled in this report may find the Convention notes play a normative role in the development
grounds of race, religion, nationality, and political of US refugee law84) instruct that “women
opinion relevant to their claims. hold a significantly different position in many
societies than men....Women may suffer harm
Domestic Violence as the Basis for solely because of their gender.”85 One court
found that as a result of pervasive, targeted
International Protection violence, “Guatemalan women” generally
Domestic violence against women may be one of the constituted a particular social group.86
most prevalent forms of violence against women90 Several decades ago, the United States played
and has been one of the most common contexts a leadership role in establishing a principled
for claims to refugee protection based on a gender- framework for defining “particular social
defined “particular social group.” group,” including recognition of women as a
Domestic violence is generally defined as a pattern protected class.87 Early jurisprudence defined
a particular social group in terms of “immutable
of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used
characteristics.”88 However, since around
by one partner to gain or maintain power and
2006, various streams of analysis have led to a
control over another intimate partner. Domestic debate over whether additional requirements
violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, to define “particular social group” should
economic, or psychological actions or threats of be used.89
actions that influence another person. This includes
any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate,
isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame,
hurt, injure, or wound someone.91

UNHCR takes the position that women who suffer as a result of their associations. Political opinions may
serious harm in domestic relationships can qualify for be imputed to them because of a family relationship.97
refugee protection.92 The US Gender Guidelines93 UNHCR considers family as a “classic example” of
specify that domestic violence can be the basis of a particular social group,98 stating that “[m]embers
a claim to refugee protection where there is State of a family, whether through blood ties or through
unwillingness or inability to protect.94 marriage and attendant kinship ties, meet the
Much of the US jurisprudence on this issue requirements of the definition by sharing a common
involves Central American women. In 2014, in a characteristic which is innate and unchangeable,
case involving Guatemalan victims of domestic as well as fundamental and protected.”99 Similarly,
violence, the federal Board of Immigration Appeals US administrative authorities100 and US courts have
clarified previous rulings and explicitly held that often described family as a “prototypical example” of
domestic violence could be the basis for refugee a particular social group that is a basis for refugee
protection.95 The Board went on to reaffirm this protection.101 When family members are persecuted
position in two very recent decisions, underscoring as a result of their relationship to a particular
in these decisions that the person claiming refugee individual, that individual need not also be targeted on
status need not have been married to the abuser in account of another Convention ground.102
order to qualify.96
Particular Concerns for LGBTI People
Protecting Families and Children Seeking Refugee Status
Family relationships are central to many of the stories Being forced to conceal one’s sexual orientation or
presented by women profiled in this report. Women gender identity may lead to a well-founded fear of
may be daughters, mothers, sisters, or spouses persecution.103 UNHCR’s Guidelines on International
of persons targeted for persecution. Women may Protection No. 9: Claims to Refugee Status based
seek to protect their children from harm or forced on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within
recruitment. And women themselves may be targeted the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention
36 WOMEN ON THE RUN

and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Paramilitary, rebel groups, and so-called “gangs” in

Refugees (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity particular may target LGBTI individuals.110 Where
Guidelines), issued in 2012, state “a person cannot non-State entities inflict harm on an LGBTI person
be denied refugee status based on a requirement (either in collaboration with the State or police, or
that they change or conceal their identity, opinions or where State protection is unavailable), the person
characteristics in order to avoid persecution,”104 and qualifies for refugee protection.111 Families and
note the severe mental and other consequences on communities may threaten serious harm on LGBTI
such individuals who are forced to conceal individuals,112 and this can constitute persecution
their identities.105 where (as is often the case) there is no meaningful
One of the first “particular social group” claims State protection.113 Non-State actors, including family
recognized in the United States (in 1990) was based members, neighbors, or the broader community, may
on homosexual status.106 That recognition has been be either directly or indirectly involved in persecutory
extended by courts107 and administrative authorities108 acts against LGBTI individuals, including intimidation,
to LGBTI cases generally. LGBTI claims for refugee harassment, domestic violence, or other forms of
protection may also implicate other grounds. For physical, psychological, or sexual violence.
example, persecution because of an applicant’s Transgender persons may be at heightened risk.
advocacy for equal rights for LGBTI individuals or an UNHCR’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
applicant’s protest against discriminatory treatment Guidelines note “[t]ransgender individuals are often
and violence can constitute persecution on account highly marginalized and their claims may reveal
of political opinion. Persons can be targeted as experiences of severe physical, psychological and/
LGBTI even if they do not self-identify; LGBTI status or sexual violence.”114 The United States has long
can be imputed.109 recognized transgender cases under the particular
social group rubric.115

Gender identity is distinct from sexual orientation, implicitly, as having oppositional political opinions.
which encompasses “the emotional and sexual Political opinion (both expressed and implied)
attraction an individual feels towards others.”116 may manifest in various expressions of anti-gang
Transgender individuals may be of any sexual beliefs and values: refusing forced affiliation123 or
orientation. The proper analysis of immutability taxes-via-extortion; testifying or informing against
with transgender individuals is not based on the the gangs; participating in community-based gang
immutability of gender (transgender persons prevention and intervention activities; maintaining
generally believe it is mutable), but based on gender neutrality (especially in “hazardous” conditions);124 or
identity as a characteristic that is immutable and associating with persons or social or religious groups
fundamental to identity. that promote anti-gang values.
Women in such situations may have a claim for
Political Opinion and Violence refugee status, regardless of whether their political
against Women opinion is grounded in explicit and expressed
Both UNHCR117 and the United States118 have oppositional views or whether those views are
asserted that the term “political opinion,” a Convention real or imputed.125 This well-established imputed
ground, includes opinions on gender roles. This political opinion doctrine focuses on the persecutor’s
includes non-conformist behavior (such as women perception of the applicant’s beliefs, not the
refusing to submit to violence) that leads a persecutor applicant’s own beliefs. Evidence of imputation of
to impute a political opinion to that person. It is not a political opinion can be direct or circumstantial.126
necessarily relevant whether the individual claiming Most importantly, persecutory agents, including non-
protection has articulated the opinion concerned.119 State actors, may have multiple reasons for targeting
Sexual violence in retaliation for actual and imputed a person — including financial gain or a need for new
political opinion has been recognized as a form members — in addition to an imputed political opinion.
of persecution.120 “Mixed motives” such as these can be sufficient to
meet the test for refugee status.127
Most recently, administrative authorities in the United
States have instructed adjudicators that “opposition to
institutionalized discrimination of women, expressions
Religion, Race, and Refugee Status
of independence from male social and cultural Women like those interviewed for this report may be
dominance in society, and refusal to comply with protected under the grounds of “race” and “religion”
traditional expectations of behavior associated with in the refugee definition.
gender…may all be expressions of political opinion. Protection from religious persecution has long-
Feminism is a political opinion and may be expressed standing recognition under international human
by refusing to comply with societal norms that subject rights law.128 Religion is inexorably linked to other
women to severely restrictive conditions.”121 grounds so that it is often difficult to separate religious
Individuals — including women — who fear, or who persecution from grounds of political opinion, race,
have suffered, the kinds of violence perpetrated by nationality, or membership in a particular social
criminal armed groups in Central America may be group.129 The criminal armed groups described in this
eligible for refugee protection based on their political report may threaten basic religious rights, for instance,
opinion, including a political opinion imputed to where people are morally opposed to violence and
them.122 As detailed above, women may be resist joining gangs.
threatened, attacked for refusal to comply with threats, Religious beliefs and identity are central to indigenous
forced into sexual relationships with gang members, communities, many members of which have a
and forcibly recruited. Criminal armed groups may deep sense of loyalty and identification with their
view those who oppose them, either expressly or communities, as well as opposition to violence. This
38 WOMEN ON THE RUN

may especially be the case with women, who, as defined in the principal international instrument

noted, are often targeted because of their gender and as “race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic
indigenous identities. Women who assert their rights origin,”130 is a physical characteristic or perceived
to independence, to be free from violence — all of innate characteristic beyond the control or
which are gender-specific rights and political beliefs choice of the individual. Indigenous women are
— may also be asserting opinions grounded an especially vulnerable group; many indigenous
in religion. Guatemalans are persecuted, or fear persecution,
Indigenous people are also protected by the based on current conditions of severe
“race” grounds in the refugee definition. Race, discrimination and violence.131

40 WOMEN ON THE RUN
OBSTACLES WOMEN REPORTED IN SEEKING INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
OBSTACLES WOMEN REPORTED IN SEEKING

INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
All women interviewed fled their home countries because they believed they could
not find protection. Some women reported their abuse or threats to the authorities;
others did not. Some women described suffering for years prior to reaching a point
where they felt compelled to flee; some moved from place to place within their
neighborhoods or country many times, and only left after sustained attempts at
finding protection within their own country; others endured a threat or attack that
was so direct and disconcerting that they fled their home countries outright.
All the women interviewed for this report made the difficult, and potentially life-
threatening, decision to journey north. Both Mexico and the United States have
taken significant steps to offer protection for women fleeing the NTCA. The United
States has also offered protection to women fleeing Mexico. Nonetheless, women
described numerous hardships along the path to safety, including detention and the
dangers of the journey itself.
More than three-quarters of the women stated they knew the path to safety would
be difficult, yet they decided to flee anyway. When asked why, they responded that
staying in their home countries meant certain death or continued suffering. Sara,
who fled Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, explained: “Coming
here was like having hope that you will come out alive.”
42 WOMEN ON THE RUN © 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich
The Journey North

MOTHERS SEPARATED FROM
People have fled NTCA countries for Mexico, the THEIR CHILDREN
United States, and other countries in the region.
All of the women interviewed for this report — who
fled to the United States, transiting through Mexico Over 60 per cent of the mothers interviewed
— indicated different degrees of difficulty in finding for this report were forced to leave behind one
safety. The most problematic aspect of flight and or more of their children when they fled their
accessing asylum, as identified by the women home countries. The separation from their
themselves, was detention (in both the United States children was one of the most difficult parts
and Mexico). of their flight. “For me, the worst part is not
knowing what’s happening to my children,”
Mexico faces complex challenges as a country of
said a woman from Mexico.
origin for some women seeking protection in the
United States, a country of asylum for women fleeing Carolina, from Honduras, was forced to leave
the NTCA, and a country of transit for those women her children behind with her abusive husband
fleeing the NTCA who continue to the United States. when she fled for her life. Since fleeing,
This complexity is reflected by the experiences of Carolina has spoken with her 13-year-old
women who participated in this report: women daughter on the phone. Her daughter told her
asserted that navigating the dangerous journey that “she [my daughter] was paying for what
through Mexico was a significant challenge to finding happened with me,” and Carolina’s husband
protection. was abusing the girl.
Many women from the NTCA described having to pay One woman, Arelia from Mexico, left her
high fees and being victims of extortion throughout youngest child, a three-year-old, at home
their flight, particularly while transiting through Mexico. because she feared he would not survive
Ana, a woman in her 40s from El Salvador, described the journey. A few months after arriving in
her journey: “My coyote [smuggler] charged me the United States with her older children and
US$ 6,500. From El Salvador to Guatemala, we applying for asylum, she learned her youngest
traveled by bus....In Mexico, we traveled by bus. I had son had kidney failure. She felt she had no
to pay extortion four times. They ask for thousands of choice but to return to Mexico to be with her
pesos, but take what you have…It was the authorities dying son, even though a criminal armed group
and the cartels.” had targeted her family. After her son’s death,
Arelia immediately returned to the United
One woman described her lack of trust in the
States to continue her asylum case. At the
authorities of countries in the region. “In Guatemala,
time of her interview with UNHCR, she was
the police got all of us off the bus and robbed one
detained without possibility of bond, separated
of the migrants. The rest of us paid them voluntarily.
from her two children who were held in foster
Then, five police got a beautiful girl off the bus. We
care in the United States.
were pretty sure that they took her off to rape her.
In Mexico, every time we got on the bus, the police Once detained in the United States, women
came on and asked for a certain amount. You had to describe detention as a significant barrier to
pay them.” their ability to maintain communication and be
safely reunited with their sons and daughters.
Given their fears, many women who spoke to
“I am very sad here. We cannot see our
UNHCR said they took precautions to avoid harm.
families. I only talk once a week with my kids.
Some women from the NTCA obtained fake Mexican
We get depressed being here,” said
identification cards so they could try to avoid
one woman.
detection, deportation, and extortion. A few women

had family members — usually male — accompanying left me in the desert,” she said. “My friend and I were
them during their flight. Many women used coyotes, there for five days in the desert. We had a little bit of
with their families paying significant sums of money water, but that ran out pretty fast. We drank water
in an attempt to ensure their safety. Many religious from cattle troughs.”
women stated that they prayed and used their faith in
God to keep them safe. Obstacles to Accessing Asylum
A number of women mentioned that they sought in Mexico
out birth control injections or pills before fleeing All of the women interviewed for this report had
“so that if you are raped, you will not end up transited through Mexico before entering the US
pregnant. And you will only have the trauma of the asylum system. All women interviewed for this report
event, but not a baby in the future from the rape.” were either recognized as refugees or have been
Attacks during Transit screened by the US Government and determined to
Despite precautions, a number of women described have a credible or reasonable fear of persecution
horrific incidents of sexual and physical violence or torture.132
in transit. For instance, a transgender woman from
El Salvador described how Mexican immigration
officials stopped her and a transgender friend MARIA’S STORY
in southern Mexico, and physically and sexually
assaulted them. Other women were abducted and
Maria, a transgender woman from El Salvador,
extorted by criminal armed actors.
fled her home country twice. The first time,
One woman from Guatemala who was traveling with
she and a transgender friend were detained
her daughter said that the coyote raped her every
for several months by the Mexican authorities.
day of her 20-day trip. She said the coyote offered a
“We were detained with men and were sexu-
reduced smuggling fee if she had sex with him, but
ally and physically abused there,” she said. “My
she accepted only because she was afraid that he
friend could not stand being detained, and she
would kill her or rape her daughter if she protested.
decided to be returned to El Salvador. Then
A significant number of women reported being she was killed when she went back.”
held captive by smugglers in Mexico, usually near
Maria pursued her asylum case while detained
the US border. The women had to provide contact
in Mexico. “But I lost after four months. They
information for family members; coyotes then told
had me interviewed by a man when I asked to
family members to pay ransom to get the women
be interviewed by a woman. They denied my
released. If family members did not pay, coyotes
case for ‘lack of proof.’”
threatened to harm the women they held. Some
Persecuted and abused again by Salvadoran
women went into significant debt to family members
police after being returned to El Salvador,
who paid, leaving them without resources to pay
Maria fled again, with a different transgender
bond or hire lawyers once they reached the United
friend. The second time she reached Mexico,
States and were detained there. Many were released
she was again apprehended by immigration
physically unharmed during captivity; others, whose
police. “I was punched in the face and bleed-
families could not pay, were not.
ing,” she said. “They stole all our belongings.”
Coyotes abandoned some women in life-threatening
Maria was able to run away and stayed in a
conditions on the US side of the border. Tania, a
shelter in Mexico for a few months, but, living in
Guatemalan woman in her early 20s, traveled with a
constant fear there, she traveled to the United
coyote to Sasabe, Arizona. “[The first coyote] handed
States to apply for asylum.
me off to other coyotes, but those other coyotes just
44 WOMEN ON THE RUN

As a country of origin, transit, and asylum, Mexico Several people mentioned that they lost their cases

presents a multifaceted environment for women for asylum in Mexico because of an ostensible lack
seeking safety. Although this report does not discuss of proof. “I asked for political asylum in Mexico,
in detail the experiences of women seeking asylum in but I did not win it,” said Patricia, from Honduras,
Mexico, it is clear that many of the women interviewed who had been referred to the asylum process by
would appear to qualify for protection under the priests at a migrant shelter where she stayed. “They
country’s exemplary asylum legislation, which [the Mexican adjudicators] told me that I did not
incorporates an expanded refugee definition that bring proof or anything. They wanted proof…I did
could be used to ensure the international protection of not have photos showing how he [my spouse] had
women fleeing criminal violence in Central America.133 hurt me…They made me feel like if I had photos, it
The complexity of the situation in Mexico is reflected would have been easier.”
in the women’s varied experiences. Some women
interviewed had attempted to find safety in Mexico Obstacles to Accessing Asylum
before coming to the United States. Others reported in the United States
that they lacked sufficient information about the All the women UNHCR interviewed for this report
Mexican asylum system to know that they could had either been recognized as refugees or been
apply for protection there. Still others attempted to screened by the US Government and determined to
avoid detection, fearing that if caught they would be have a credible or reasonable fear of persecution or
returned to their home countries. Some women chose torture.134 Many of the women spoke of the United
not to seek asylum in Mexico. Many traveled through States as a beacon of hope and safety. Some of
remote and unsafe parts of Mexico, far from the three the women, particularly those who had been quickly
offices of Mexico’s small refugee protection agency, released from immigration detention, were indeed
risking their lives to evade the authorities. grateful to have arrived in the United States and be
Many women interviewed perceived Mexico to be able to apply for asylum.
an unsafe place to claim asylum. For instance, Ana, Valeria, a mother in her 30s from El Salvador who
from El Salvador, said: “Mexico [is] almost as bad as fled with her children, relayed her newfound sense of
El Salvador. Why would I go there? That would be no security: “I say completely sincerely that my happiest
escape. In fact, it would be worse, because I don’t day was when I got to the United States with my
know anyone there.” family. It was the first time I felt safe…Now, I am so
Some women who participated in this report told happy seeing my children content and safe and going
UNHCR they would have been willing to stay in to school. I tell them over and over that nothing will
Mexico if they knew how to make an asylum claim and happen to them here.”
had access to national procedures and safe reception However, many of the women expressed confusion
facilities. In fact, a few women interviewed did apply about the need to continue fighting for asylum upon
for asylum in Mexico, although only one was granted arrival to the United States. Almost all of the women
protection. Others reported being denied due to interviewed for this report were apprehended by
“lack of proof.” A woman from Honduras explained, or turned themselves into officials of US Customs
“Asylum is very difficult to access in Mexico.” When and Border Protection (CBP) shortly after crossing
these women eventually reached the United States, the border. CBP officials are often the first point
each was deemed to meet the initial requirements for of contact for asylum-seekers. Under these
accessing US Asylum procedures (some women’s circumstances, an individual must express fear of
cases were still pending; others had been granted return to CBP in order to continue with the asylum
asylum or some other form of protection in the process. Otherwise, if rejected by CBP, she faces
United States). summary removal to her country of origin or last

habitual residence. During this process, she will be twenty years old and was two months pregnant
held in detention by either CBP or Immigration and with my daughter, I was coming home from the
Customs Enforcement (ICE). doctor, and my cousin assaulted me and raped me
For some, this was not their first time arriving in front of his gang, on the street…The first time
at the United States border in search of safety. I arrived to the US, I was detained and deported.
One woman from El Salvador tried to find safety The second time, I arrived in the US in April 2014.
in neighboring Honduras and the United States I told the officials that I was there because I was
multiple times before finally being allowed to pursue afraid to return to my country. But they did not write
her claim in the United States. “When I was almost anything down. They told me that everyone says
46 WOMEN ON THE RUN

this, and that I did not have the right to anything far beyond release. “The things I lived through in

because I had been deported already. I was detention have marked me for life,” said a Salvadoran
deported again to El Salvador. Then in June 2014, I woman who recently was granted asylum. “Please
was able to escape to Honduras with my life.” She remember that we are also human beings. I didn’t
returned a third time and a US immigration judge want to come here, but for me it was a question
recognized that her fear of persecution was well of life and death.”
founded and allowed her to remain permanently.
She says, “Just to be here, to be a refugee here,
I already feel safe. I would say thank you, thank you
for letting me be here. And thank you for believing
in women like me.” She and her daughter are now
safely reunited with her husband.
However, some women who participated in this
report said that detention caused them to question
whether to abandon their claims for asylum. Women
were held in facilities with their children, including
very young children, and described wanting to
abandon their claims so that their sons or daughters
would be able to leave detention.
Some felt detention exacerbated traumas suffered
at home and in flight. As Alexa from El Salvador put
it: “They should help facilitate the asylum process
so that one doesn’t suffer in detention centers. They
shouldn’t be causing more harm.” One Mexican
woman described experiencing severe anxiety each
time the officers closed and locked the doors to her
cell. She said, “It is better to be free and to die by a
bullet than to suffer and die slowly in a cage.”
For many women who spoke with UNHCR, detention
has meant they have been unable to hire a lawyer,
due to lack of resources and distance from major
service providers. A recent academic study looked at
asylum cases from Central America and found that
“the single most important factor in determining
outcome is whether or not these individuals are
represented in their court proceedings.”135
For women without attorneys, the lack of ability to fully
understand the proceedings, file the correct paper-
work in a language they do not understand, or gather
evidence to support their cases is daunting. “I haven’t
filled out an asylum application yet because it is in
English only,” said a young woman from Guatemala.
Women interviewed for this report emphasized that
the experience of being detained remains with them

CONCLUSION
The women who shared their stories with UNHCR for this report
fled situations of extreme violence and abuse at the hands of
criminal armed groups. They were threatened, extorted, physically
abused, and even raped. Some had family members who were
murdered or disappeared and some had children who were forcibly
recruited into criminal armed groups. In overlapping incidents, many
women also fled horrific physical and sexual violence at home. The
transgender women UNHCR interviewed were affected by these
patterns of violence in addition to acute discrimination, harassment
and violence specific to their gender identity.
The increasing reach of criminal armed groups, often amounting
to de facto control over territory and people, has surpassed the
capacity of governments in the region to respond. The women
interviewed talked about the authorities being threatened by criminal
48 WOMEN ON THE RUN

CONCLUSION
armed groups and even colluding with them in certain circumstances.
They repeatedly emphasized that they had no choice but to flee, fearing
for their lives. Some fled so quickly that they had to leave children
behind; many women worried deeply what would become of their
families at home.
Seeking asylum is a lawfully protected act. Forced return – without the
opportunity to have a refugee claim adjudicated on the merits – runs
counter to the laws meant to protect refugees. All of the women UNHCR
interviewed for this report had either been recognized as refugees
or been screened by the US Government and determined to have a
credible or reasonable fear of persecution or torture.
Each suffered serious human rights violations related to protected
grounds under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,
its 1967 Protocol, and related jurisprudence, and their own governments
were unable to provide protection or redress. Many of the claims for
international protection of the women interviewed for this report are
likely, upon individual determination, to fall within the scope of the 1951
Convention and related jurisprudence.
Thousands of others fleeing the region have faced similar hardships.
Many of the women interviewed were relieved and thankful to have found
safety in the United States in particular. Yet the women profiled in this
report described numerous obstacles to finding safety, including facing
dangerous journeys, detention, and in certain instances, refoulement
from countries of asylum.
This looming refugee crisis requires a comprehensive regional response
with a balanced protection approach. Such an approach should
ensure that adequate screening procedures are in place in countries
of asylum to identify the protection needs of all those arriving, that
asylum procedures are accessible, fair, and efficient, and that effective
protection is available to all refugees, including through the provision of
adequate reception arrangements. A regional approach is also essential
to upholding the shared responsibility of countries in the Americas and to
finding long-term solutions for refugees. Recognizing that border security
and refugee protection are not mutually exclusive, all steps should be
taken to manage this situation in accordance with international refugee
law, including the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.
ENDNOTES
removal proceedings. If she expresses a fear of return, then she is referred
for a screening interview with an asylum officer to determine whether she
has a credible fear of persecution or torture. At the credible fear interview,
she must establish a “significant possibility” that she will be granted asylum
or relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). 8 CFR § 208.30(e).
If the asylum officer finds that she has a credible fear, the asylum-seeker is
1
This report refers to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras collectively referred to an Immigration Judge for a full merits hearing on her claim. 8 CFR
as the “Northern Triangle of Central America.” The report also discusses § 208.30(f).
concerns faced by some Mexican asylum-seekers.
Individuals who reenter the United States without authorization after a prior
2
In FY 2015, out of 16,077 females from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, order of removal are placed into reinstatement of removal. Those who are not
and Mexico who were subject to the credible fear screening by a US asylum lawful permanent residents and are convicted of certain crimes after entering
officer, 13,116 (or 82 per cent) were found to have a significant possibility the United States may be placed into administrative removal. Under either
of establishing eligibility for asylum or protection under the Convention reinstatement of removal or administrative removal, if an individual expresses
against Torture. The purpose of this screening process is “to quickly identify a fear of return, she is referred for an interview with an asylum officer to
potentially meritorious claims to protection and to resolve frivolous ones determine whether there is “a reasonable possibility that he or she would be
with dispatch.... If an alien passes this threshold-screening standard, his persecuted on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in
or her claim for protection...will be further examined by an immigration a particular social group or political opinion.” 8 CFR § 208.31(c). If the asylum
judge in the context of removal proceedings.” US Department of Homeland officer finds that the individual has a reasonable fear, the case is referred to
Security, Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate Officer an Immigration Judge for full merits consideration of whether the individual is
Training: Asylum Division Officer Training Course, “Lesson Plan Overview: eligible for withholding or deferral of removal under the refugee definition or
Credible Fear,” February 28, 2014, available at http://www.lexisnexis.com/ Convention against Torture. 8 CFR § 208.31(e).
legalnewsroom/immigration/b/insidenews/archive/2014/04/18/uscis- The United States also employs affirmative and defensive asylum procedures.
revised-credible-fear-lafferty-memo-lesson-plan.aspx; see also 8 U.S.C.Sec A number of women in this report passed through either the affirmative or
1225(b)(1)(B)(v). As a signatory to the 1967 Protocol (“Protocol”) relating to defensive asylum process. To apply for asylum affirmatively, an individual
the Status of Refugees, the US is required to co-operate with the UNHCR must be physically present in the United States or seeking entry to the
by “providing them with the information and statistical data requested, in United States at a port of entry. The individual files an application for asylum
appropriate form, concerning” the implementation of the Protocol. See UN with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). After filing an
General Assembly, Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, GA Res. 2198 application, the individual is interviewed by an asylum officer, whose decision
(XXI), UN GAOR, 21st Sess., UN Doc. A/RES/2198 (6 Dec. 1966), Art. II. is reviewed by a supervisory asylum officer. USCIS, Obtaining Asylum in the
The information is on file with UNHCR. United States, http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/asylum/
3
World Bank Sustainable Development Department, Poverty Reduction obtaining-asylum-united-states. Individuals apply for asylum defensively
and Economic Management Unit & Latin America and the Caribbean Region, when he or she requests asylum as a defense against removal from the U.S.
Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge, World Individuals are generally placed into defensive asylum procedures in one of
Bank Group (2011), available at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLAC/ two ways: (1) “they are referred to an Immigration Judge by USCIS after they
Resources/FINAL_VOLUME_I_ENGLISH_CrimeAndViolence.pdf; Clare have been determined to be ineligible for asylum at the end of the affirmative
R. Seelke, Gangs in Central America, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH asylum process,” or (2) they are placed in removal proceedings, as discussed
SERVICE, Publication No. RL34112, 7-5700 (20 February 2014). above. Id. Immigration judges hear defensive asylum cases and decide
whether the individual is eligible for asylum.
4
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Study on Homicide
2013 (March 2014), available at https://www.unodc.org/gsh and the CIA
16
See, e.g., Decree No. 97-96, 24 October 1996, Law to Prevent, Punish,
and Eradicate Intrafamily Violence (Guatemala); Decree No. 132-97, 29
World Factbook on El Salvador, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/
September 1997, the Law on Domestic Violence (Honduras); Decree No.
the-world-factbook/geos/es.html 902, 5 December 1996, the Law on Intrafamily Violence (El Salvador).
5
The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, Global 17
All names of women interviewed for this report have been changed to
Burdens of Armed Violence 2015, available at http://www.genevadeclaration. preserve their confidentiality.
org/measurability/global-burden-of-armed-violence/global-burden-of-armed-
violence-2015.html
18
UNHCR, Population Statistics Database, “Asylum-Seekers (Monthly
Data)”, available at http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum_seekers
6
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (hereinafter UNHCR), Children on
the Run: Unaccompanied Children Leaving Central America and Mexico
19
The word “transgender” is “an an umbrella term for people
and the Need for International Protection (2014) pp.15-17; UNHCR, whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural
Uprooted (Arrancados de Raíz) (2014), available at http://www.acnur.org/t3/ expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being
transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore,
donde-trabaja/america/mexico/arrancados-de-raiz/ transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual,
7
UNHCR, Children on the Run: Unaccompanied Children Leaving Central etc.” Human Rights Campaign, Sexual Orientation and Gender
America and Mexico and the Need for International Protection (2014) Identity Definitions, available at http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/
pp.15-17. sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-terminology-and-definitions
8
UNHCR, Population Statistics Database, “Asylum-Seekers (Monthly 20
UN General Assembly, Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, GA
Data)”, available at http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum_seekers Res. 429 (V), UN GAOR, 5th Sess., UN Doc. A/RES/429 (14 Dec. 1950)
9
US Customs and Border Protection, http://federalnewsradio.com/ Art. 1; UN General Assembly, Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees,
GA Res. 2198 (XXI), UN GAOR, 21st Sess., UN Doc. A/RES/2198 (6 Dec.
business-news/2014/12/us-border-patrol-female-agents-wanted/
1966); Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee
10
UNHCR, Unaccompanied Minors: Humanitarian Situation at the US Status, UN Doc. HCP/1P/4/Eng/Rev.2, 1979 (edited 1992) [hereinafter
Border, http://unhcrwashington.org/children “Handbook”].
11
UNHCR defines an “unaccompanied child” as any child under the age 21
UNHCR, Children on the Run: Unaccompanied Children Leaving Central
of 18 who has been “separated from both parents and other relatives and America and Mexico and the Need for International Protection (2014).
[is] not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible 22
UNHCR, Uprooted (Arrancados de Raíz) (2014), available at http://www.
for doing so,” while a “separated child” is one who is “separated from both
parents, or from their previous legal or customary primary care-giver, but not acnur.org/t3/donde-trabaja/america/mexico/arrancados-de-raiz/
necessarily from other relatives.” UNHCR Guidelines on Determining the 23
Individuals who are placed in accelerated removal in the United States
Best Interests of the Child (May 2008) at 8, available at http://www.refworld. will be summarily removed to their country of origin or last habitual residence
org/docid/48480c342.html. UNHCR, Children on the Run: Unaccompanied unless they express a fear of return. If fear is expressed, these individuals
Children Leaving Central America and Mexico and the Need for International are referred for asylum-related screening via one of two processes: the
Protection (2014). credible fear interview process or the reasonable fear interview process.
Upon a positive credible fear or reasonable fear determination, a US asylum
12
Since 2008, the US Government has recorded a 561 per cent rise in the officer refers the individual’s case to an Immigration Judge for further review.
number of new arrivals of unaccompanied and separated children. For FY Individuals who have not been placed in removal proceedings may apply for
2014, the U.S. Government apprehended 66,115 UACs. See U.S. Customs asylum affirmatively by filing an application for asylum with US Citizenship and
and Border Protection, Southwest Border Unaccompanied Children, Immigration Services. For a more detailed discussion, see footnote 15.
Fiscal Year 2014, available at https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/
southwest-border-unaccompanied-children
24
will be summarily removed to their country of origin or last habitual residence
13
For FY 2014, the U.S. Government apprehended 66,144 family units. Ibid. unless they express a fear of return. If fear is expressed, these individuals
14
Ibid. are referred for asylum-related screening via one of two processes: the
credible fear interview process or the reasonable fear interview process.
15
The United States employs a range of accelerated removal procedures Upon a positive credible fear or reasonable fear determination, a US asylum
that subject an individual to summary removal without a formal immigration officer refers the individual’s case to an Immigration Judge for further review.
hearing. The women whose stories are reflected in this report passed Individuals who have not been placed in removal proceedings may apply for
through one of the following accelerated procedures: expedited removal, asylum affirmatively by filing an application for asylum with US Citizenship and
reinstatement of removal, or administrative removal. Immigration Services. For a more detailed discussion, see footnote 15.
An individual apprehended for the first time at a port of entry to the United
States, or between ports of entry within 100 miles and two weeks of having
crossed the US border without authorization, may be placed in expedited
50 WOMEN ON THE RUN

25
Participating Governments of the countries of Latin America and the report crimes due to lack of confidence in the system and/or fear of reprisal);
ENDNOTES
Caribbean, Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action, 3 December 2014, US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for
available at http://www.refworld.org/docid/5487065b4.html, [hereinafter 2013: Honduras (2013) (the law criminalizes all forms of rape and sexual
“Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action”]. harassment, but both crimes are underreported due to fear of retribution and
further violence; domestic violence continues to be widespread and victims
26
Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Plan of the
are reluctant to press charges against abusers); US Department of State,
Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle: A Road Map, September
Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013: El Salvador (2014)
2014, available at http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument. (weaknesses in the judiciary and security forces contribute to a high level of
aspx?docnum=39224238 impunity, leaving widespread domestic violence).
27
Brazil Declaration and Plan of Action, p. 15. 45
The Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) is a non-profit initiative
28
The White House, Office of the Vice President, “Fact Sheet: Promoting of a consortium of three NGOs (Action Contre la Faim - ACF, Norwegian
Prosperity, Security and Good Governance in Central America,” January 29, Refugee Council, and Save the Children International) which supports the
2015, available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/29/ humanitarian community with needs assessments in collaboration with a
fact-sheet-promoting-prosperity-security-and-good-governance-central-ame large network of partners including NGOs, UN and academics. According to
ACAPS, between 2004 and 2013, there were 143,588 recorded homicides
29
The US government has provided more than USD $640 million in US in the NTCA, which constitutes approximately 41.9 homicides per day in a
security assistance to the region since 2008 through the Central American population of approximately 30 million people – one of the highest homicide
Regional Security Initiative. The US government also developed the US rates in the world. Ninety-five per cent of all homicides go unpunished.
Strategy for Engagement in Central America, a comprehensive approach that In addition, according to ACAPS, the rate of under-reporting is very high
proposes major investments in security, economic, and governance programs. throughout the region, and the statistics cited do not include the many
The multi-year strategy is supported by a USD $1 billion budget request for persons who go missing and whose bodies are later found.
FY 2016 which is still pending before the US Congress. The U.S. strategy
aligns with and supports the overall goals and objectives of the Alliance for 46
UNHCR, Population Statistics: Asylum Seekers (Refugee Status
Prosperity, but they are different plans. The U.S. strategy seeks to accelerate Determination), http://popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum_seekers
regional integration of all seven Central American countries to achieve 47
Bruce Bagley, Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in the Americas:
the economic outcomes necessary to change the trajectory of the region, Major Trends in the Twenty-First Century, Woodrow Wilson Center Update
confront security challenges, and address the underlying conditions that lead on the Americas, (1 August 2012) p. 7; Clare R. Seelke, Gangs in Central
to outbound migration. The White House, “US Strategy for Engagement in America, C ongressional Research Service, Publication No. RL34112, 7-5700
Central America,” available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ (20 February 2014) p. 2.
docs/central_america_strategy.pdf 48
Ibid., at p. 1.
30
Clare R. Seelke, Gangs in Central America, C ongressional Research
Service, Publication No. RL34112, 7-5700 (20 February 2014).
49
Ibid., at pp. 11-12; see also United States Department of State, Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013: Mexico (27 February 2014),
31
World Bank Sustainable Development Department, Poverty Reduction available at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/wha/220457.htm
and Economic Management Unit & Latin America and the Caribbean Region, (“Impunity for human rights abuses remained a problem throughout the
Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge, World country with extremely low rates of prosecution for all forms of crime.”).
Bank Group (2011) pp. 15-16, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLAC/ 50
Ibid., at pp. 23-24.
Resources/FINAL_VOLUME_I_ENGLISH_CrimeAndViolence.pdf; Clare
R. Seelke, Gangs in Central America, C ongressional Research Service, 51
In 1996, it passed the Ley de Asistencia y Prevención de la Violencia
Publication No. RL34112, 7-5700 (20 February 2014) p. 2. Intrafamiliar; in 1997, the Decreto para reformar el Código Civil y el Código
32
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Global Study on Homicide Penal, which focused attention on intrafamiliar violence and rape; in 2003
the Ley Federal para Prevenir y Eliminar la Discriminación; in 2006 the Ley
2013 (March 2014), available at https://www.unodc.org/gsh General para la Igualdad entre Mujeres y Hombres; in 2007 the Ley General
33
Cristina Eguizábal et al., Crime and Violence in Central America’s de Acceso de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia (LGAMVLV), which
Northern Triangle, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Latin seeks to establish coordination among the three levels of governement to
America Program (2015) p. 2. more effectively protect women; and in 2012, the Reforma Constitucional en
34
Ibid., at pp. 2, 12, 27. Materia de Derechos Humanos. Amnesty International, Mexico: Briefing to the
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women: 52nd
35
United Nations News Centre, Honduras Must Address Widespread session, July 2012 (2012); ONU Mujeres & INMujeres & LXI Legislatura,
Impunity for Crimes against Women, Girls, 10 Jun. 2014, http://www.un.org/ Feminicidio en México. Aproximacíon, tendencias y cambios, 1985-2009
apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48241#.Vg03kflVhBc; Washington Office (2011).
on Latin America et al., Recommendations for U.S. Government Action: 52
Teresa Romero Incháustegui et al., Violencia Femnicida en México:
Smart Responses to Increased Migration from Central America, 11 Jul. 2014, Características, tendencias y nuevas expresiones en las entidades
available at http://www.wola.org/commentary/recommendations_for_us_ federativas, 1985-2010 (2012).
government_responses_to_the_increase_in_migration_from_central_ame 53
See, e.g. US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights
36
The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development, Global Practices for 2013: Mexico (27 February 2014), available at http://www.state.
Burdens of Armed Violence 2015, available at http://www.genevadeclaration. gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2013/wha/220457.htm; Amnesty International, Mexico:
org/measurability/global-burden-of-armed-violence/global-burden-of-armed- Briefing to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
violence-2015.html Women: 52nd session, July 2012 (2012); Human Rights Watch, Mexico: The
37
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Transnational Organized Crime Second Assault: Obstructing Access to Legal Abortion After Rape in Mexico
in Central America and the Caribbean: a Threat Assessment, September (2006).
2012, p. 29 [hereinafter: UNODC, 2012]. 54
Eighty per cent of Honduran women interviewed sought safety within their
38
Clare R. Seelke, Gangs in Central America, C ongressional Research own country prior to flight. That figure was 78 per cent for Salvadoran women,
Service, Publication No. RL34112, 7-5700 (20 February 2014) p. 6. 57 per cent for Mexican women, and 57 per cent for Guatemalan women.
39
The Guardian, “El Salvador Gang Violence Pushes Murder Rate to Postwar
55
The 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol are the key international
Record,” 2 September 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ instruments governing the protection of refugees and address who is a
refugee, his or her rights and responsibilities, and the legal obligations of
sep/02/el-salvador-gang-violence-murder-rate-record
States. UN General Assembly, Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,
40
US Passports & International Travel, El Salvador Travel Warning, 22 GA Res. 429 (V), UN GAOR, 5th Sess., UN Doc. A/RES/429 (14 Dec.
June 2015, http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/ 1950); UN General Assembly, Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees,
el-salvador-travel-warning.html GA Res. 2198 (XXI), UN GAOR, 21st Sess., UN Doc. A/RES/2198 (6 Dec.
1966). The 1967 Protocol binds parties to comply with the substantive
41
See, e.g. US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights provisions of Articles 2 through 34 of the 1951 Convention with respect to
Practices for 2013: Honduras (2013) (rape and domestic violence reported “refugees” as defined in Article IA(2) of the Convention. 1967 Protocol, art. I
to be a serious concern in Honduras); US Department of State, Guatemala ¶ 1. The 1967 Protocol removed the geographical and temporal limitations of
2013 Human Rights Report: Executive Summary (2014) (sexual violence the 1951 Refugee Convention, thus universalizing the refugee definition. 1967
occurs with high degrees of impunity); US Department of State, Country Protocol, art. 1 ¶¶ 2-3.
Report on Human Rights Practices for 2011: El Salvador (2012) (laws
addressing domestic violence are not well enforced or effectively prosecuted; 56
1951 Convention, art. 1A(2).
rape, sexualized violence, and other forms of violence against women are 57
1951 Convention; 1967 Protocol. Formally, the United States ratified the
under-reported and widespread). Protocol, which incorporated the Convention except for certain temporal and
42
Teresa Romero Incháustegui et al., Violencia Femnicida en México: geographic restrictions eliminated in the Protocol.
Características, tendencias y nuevas expresiones en las entidades 58
UNHCR, States Party to the 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the
federativas, 1985-2010 (2012); Cecilia Menjívar, Enduring Violence: Ladina Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, April 2015, available at http://
Women’s Lives in Guatemala (2011).
www.unhcr.org/3b73b0d63.html
43
See, e.g., Decree No. 97-96, 24 October 1996, Law to Prevent, Punish, 59
Refugee Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-212, 94 Stat. 102.
and Eradicate Intrafamily Violence (Guatemala); Decree No. 132-97, 29
September 1997, the Law on Domestic Violence (Honduras); Decree No. 60
Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status,
902, 5 December 1996, the Law on Intrafamily Violence (El Salvador). UN Doc. HCP/1P/4/Eng/Rev.2, 1979 (edited 1992) [hereinafter “Handbook”].
44
US Department of State, Guatemala 2013 Human Rights Report: 61
See, e.g. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 439 n.22 (1987) ([T]he
Executive Summary (2014) (The government failed to enforce laws Handbook provides significant guidance in contruing the Protocol, to which
criminalizing rape and domestic violence effectively; victims frequently did not Congress sought to conform.”).

62
Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 798 (9th Cir. 2005) (relying on
both the Guidelines on Gender-Related Persecution within the context of 84
There are several sources of official authority on US law. United States
Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (part of the Department
the Status of Refugees, UN Doc. HCR/GIP/02/01 (7 May 2002) [hereinafter of Homeland Security) has jurisdiction over the first-tier Asylum Officer
“Gender Guidelines”] and its Guidance on “Membership of a particular social decision makers, and issues instructions and training materials on key
group” within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its issues, discussed herein. The Board of Immigration Appeals, or Board, is
1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, UN Doc. HCR/GIP/02/02 part of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), which is within
(7 May 2002) [hereinafter “Social Group Guidelines”]). the Department of Justice. Immigration Judges also are a part of EOIR; they
63
Especially since 2002, UNHCR has supplemented its classic Handbook conduct formal removal hearings, including hearings on refugee protection
with guidance and guidelines on specific issues, and other authoritative claims (sometimes after the Asylum Office has issued a non-favorable
interpretations. Of particular relevance here are the Gender Guidelines and decision). The Board hears appeals on decisions of immigration judges,
Social Group Guidelines. The Gender Guidelines provide an interpretation of and is the final administrative decisionmaker. A Board decision can be
the refugee definition as it pertains to gender-related claims, and the Social appealed to the relevant federal court of appeal. Federal courts of appeals are
Group Guidelines offer a detailed interpretation of the “membership of a independent, constitutional courts. The US Supreme Court may hear appeals
particular social group” protection ground. from the federal courts. See Deborah Anker, Law of Asylum in the United
64
Ibid. States, (Thomson Reuters 2015), Ch. 1.
65
Congressional Research Service, “Temporary Protected Status: Current
85
Asylum Officer Basic Training Course, Female Asylum Applications
Immigration Policy and Issues,” September 2015, p. 5, available at https:// and Gender-Related Claims, pp. 5-6 (12 Mar. 2009) available at http://
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RS20844.pdf www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Humanitarian/Refugees%20&%20Asylum/Asylum/
AOBTC%20Lesson%20Plans/Female-Asylum-Applicants-Gender-Related-
66
See, e.g. UNHCR, UNHCR Intervention before the Supreme Court of
the United States in the Case of Immigration and Naturalization Service Claims-31aug10.pdf (hereinafter AOBTC, Gender).
v. Cardoza-Fonseca, No. 85-782 (14 July 1986) available at http://www. 86
Perdomo v. Holder, 611 F. 3d 662 (9th Cir. 2010).
refworld.org/docid/4b03c5818.html (Refworld Doc. No. 85-782). 87
In 1985, the Board issued Matter of Acosta, which defined a “political
67
INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987). social group” in terms of “immutable characteristics” and naming “sex” as a
quintessential example. Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211, 233 (B.I.A. 1985).
68
For a comprehensive discussion of the position of various States Parties,
see James C. Hathaway & Michelle Foster, The Law of Refugee Status,
88
Ibid.
Second Edition (Cambridge University Press 2015), 2.4.1. 89
Beginning in 2006, the Board confused the analysis by including additional
69
8 C.F.R. § 208.13(b)(1); INA § 101(a)(42)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) requirements (i.e. “social distinction” and “particularity”) (See Deborah Anker,
(2006). Law of Asylum in the United States, (Thomson Reuters 2015), Ch.5), but, as
noted, in the last two years especially, it has been moving in a more principled
70
See generally, Deborah Anker, Law of Asylum in the United States, and legally coherent direction, even suggesting a return to its core Acosta
(Thomson Reuters 2015), pp. 88-108. analysis with its recognition of gender as a defining qualification for refugee
71
UNHCR, Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee protection. See also, Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec.288 (B.I.A 2014)
Status, UN Doc. HCP/1P/4/Eng/Rev.2.1979, (edited 1992), ¶¶ 51 and 65. (providing further analysis on the requirements of “particularity” and “social
distinction”).
72
Gender Guidelines, ¶ 9.
90
World Health Organization (WHO), The WHO Multi-country Study on
73
Gender Guidelines, ¶ 9; Deborah Anker, Law of Asylum in the United
Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women (2005), at vii (“[W]
States, (Thomson Reuters 2015), pp. 271-77.
omen are more at risk of experiencing violence in intimate relationships than
74
Gender Guidelines, ¶ 20. anywhere else.”).
75
REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 302 (2005). 91
United States Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women,
76
Matter of S-P-, 21 I&N Dec. 486 (B.I.A. 1996) (holding that asylum Areas of Focus (updated 23 July 2014) http://www.justice.gov/ovw/
could be granted where there were multiple reasons for harm). A refugee domestic-violence
applicant also need not demonstrate that a persecutor’s “motives” are hostile 92
UNHCR, Matters of C.P.-G., C.-G., V.-C., C.-G., and A.-C., Amicus
or malignant. See Matter of Kasinga, 21 I&N Dec. 357 (B.I.A 1996) (finding Curiae Brief, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Support
the benign intent of those who actually inflicted female genital mutilation of Respondents, (21 Nov. 2012), pp. 20-21, available at http://www.refworld.
irrelevant). org/docid/50b5c2a22.html
77
See, e.g. Ravindran v. INS, 976 F.2d 754 (1st Cir. 1992) (“An imputed 93
Phyllis Coven, INS Office of International Affairs, Considerations for
political opinion, whether correctly or incorrectly attributed, may constitute a Asylum Officers Adjudicating Asylum Claims From Women, Memorandum to
reason for political persecution within the meaning of the Act.”). all INS Asylum Officers, HQASM Coordinators (26 May 1995), p. 4, available
78
Fatin v. INS, 12 F.3d 1233 (3rd Cir. 1993) («[W]e have little doubt that at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b31e7.html
feminism qualifies as a political opinion within the meaning of the relevant 94
Ibid, p. 16.
statutes.»). The US Gender Guidelines state that this case makes clear «that
an applicant who could demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution
95
Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec.288 (B.I.A 2014).
on account of her (or his) beliefs about the role and status of women in 96
See In re E-M- (B.I.A unpublished decision, 18 Feb. 2015, Texas) and In
society could be eligible for refugee status on account of political opinion.» re D-M-R (B.I.A unpublished decision, 9 June 2015, Arizona) (both on file). In
INS Office of International Affairs, Considerations for Asylum Officers A-R-C-G-, the Board had defined the political social group as married women
Adjudicating Asylum Claims From Women, Memorandum to all INS Asylum who could not leave the relationship. In the two more recent decisions, the
Officers, HQASM Coordinators (26 May 1995), p. 11, available at http:// Board held that marriage was not necessary to meet the political social group
www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b31e7.html requirements.
79
UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection: Religion-Based Refugee 97
See Deborah Anker, Law of Asylum in the United States, (Thomson
Claims under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol Reuters 2015), Ch. 5.
relating to the Status of Refugees, UN Doc. HCR/GIP/04/06 (April 28, 98
UNHCR, UNHCR Position on Claims for Refugee Status Under the
2004), ¶ 24, available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4090f9794.pdf 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees Based on a Fear of
(“The travaux préparatoires of the 1951 Convention show that religion-based Persecution Due to an Individual’s Membership of a Family or Clan Engaged
persecution formed an integral and accepted part of the refugee definition in a Blood Feud, (17 Mar. 2006) ¶18, available at http://www.unhcr.org/
throughout the drafting process.”) [hereinafter UNHCR Religious Claims refworld/docid/44201a574.html
Guidelines]. See also UNHCR, UNHCR Statement on Religious Persecution
and the Interpretation of Article 9(1) of the EU Qualification Directive, 99
Ibid.
C-71/11 and C-99/11 (17 June 2011), available at http://www.refworld.org/ 100
AOBTC, Nexus, Asylum Eligibility Part III: Nexus and the Five Protected
docid/4dfb7a082.html Characteristics, pp. 33-34 (12 Mar. 2009) available at http://www.uscis.
80
UNHCR, Social Group Guidelines, UN Doc. HCR/GIP/02/02 (7 May gov/USCIS/Humanitarian/Refugees%20&%20Asylum/Asylum/AOBTC%20
2002), ¶ 11 (“[A] particular social group is a group of persons who share Lesson%20Plans/Nexus-the-Five-Protected-Characteristics-31aug10.pdf
a common characteristic other than their risk of being persecuted, or who 101
The US Acosta definition specifically points to kinship ties as an example
are perceived as a group by society. The characteristic will often be one of the type of shared, immutable characteristic that can form the basis of a
which is innate, unchangeable, or which is otherwise fundamental to identity, particular social group. Matter of Acosta, 19 I&N Dec. 211, 233 (B.I.A. 1985).
conscience or the exercise of one’s human rights.”).
102
Zelaya v. Holder, 668 F.3d 159 (4th Cir. 2012).
81
UNHCR, Gender Guidelines, ¶ 30.
103
UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 9: Claims to Refugee
82
UNHCR, Gender Guidelines, ¶ 30. See also UNHCR, Age, Gender and Status based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within the context
Diversity Policy: Working with people and communities for equal protection of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to
(1 June 2011), available at http://www.unhcr.org/4e7757449.html the Status of Refugees, U.N. Doc HCR/GIP/12/09 (23 Oct. 2012) ¶¶ 30-31,
83
See, e.g., Mohammed v. Gonzales, 400 F.3d 785, 797 (9th Cir. 2005) available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/50348afc2.html [hereinafter
(finding that gender was a “prototypical immutable characteristic”); See also UNHCR Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Guidelines]; See also
Niang v. Gonzales, 422 F.3d 1187 (10th Cir. 2005) (recognizing social group Karouni v. Gonzales, 399 F.3d 1163 (9th Cir. 2005); James C. Hathaway &
defined by gender and tribal membership); Fatin v. INS, 12 F.3d 1233, 1240 Jason Pobjoy, Queer Cases Make Bad Law, 44 NYU J. INT’L L & POL. 315,
(3d Cir. 1993) (noting that gender itself could be the defining characteristic of 333 (2012) (arguing that “it is the modification of behavior itself, or the impact
a particular social group). that the modification has on the applicant, that is the relevant persecutory
52 WOMEN ON THE RUN

harm”); Deborah Anker & Sabi Ardalan, Escalating Persecution of Gays and
ENDNOTES
Refugee Protection: Comment on Queer Cases Make Bad Law, 44 N.Y.U. 120
See In-Re- D-V-, 21 I.&N. 77 (B.I.A. 1993) (finding that rape in home as
J. INT’L L. & POL. 529 (2012) (responding to Hathaway and Pobjoy and retaliation for imputed and actual political support for deposed president,
agreeing that such “endogenous harm” is persecutory). constituted persecution).
104
See UNHCR, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Guidelines, UN Doc 121
Asylum Officer Basic Training Course, Female Asylum Applicants and
HCR/GIP/12/09 (Oct. 23, 2012) ¶ 31, available at http://www.unhcr.org/ Gender-Related Claims (12 Mar. 2009) pp. 27-28, available at http://www.
refworld/docid/50348afc2.html uscis.gov/USCIS/Humanitarian/Refugees%20&%20Asylum/Asylum/
105
Ibid.,at ¶ 33. AOBTC%20Lesson%20Plans/Female-Asylum-Applicants-Gender-Related-
106
Matter of Toboso-Alfonso, 20 I&N Dec. 819 (B.I.A 1990); Deborah Anker, Claims-31aug10.pdf [hereinafter AOBTC Gender].
Law of Asylum in the United States, (Thomson Reuters 2015) 485. In that 122
See generally, Deborah Anker & Lawrence Palmer, “Third Generation”
case, the Board rejected the legacy-INS argument that Mr. Toboso-Alfonso Gangs, Warfare in Central America, and Refugee Law’s Political Opinion
was being punished by the government (such “punishment” consisting of, Ground, 14-10 Imm. Briefings 1 (2014).
among other abuses, forced labor and detention) for his conduct in engaging
in homosexual acts rather than his status as a homosexual. The Board found
123
Political opinion and the nexus requirement in the gang context have been
that homosexuality is a status. Id. A status is like an immutable characteristic, misunderstood in some BIA and federal court decisions. In Rivera-Barrientos
under Acosta, that either cannot be changed or that is fundamental to identity v. Holder, 658 F.3d 1222 (10th Cir. 2011) the court upheld the Board’s denial
and should not be required to be changed. Matter of Acosta, 19 I. & N. Dec. of her claim of persecution based (among other grounds) on political opinion.
211 (B.I.A 1985). In the US domestic context, this status versus conduct Even though the court found that “[s]ome evidence in the record supports [her
distinction has been firmly rejected by the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. claim] that she was assaulted because of her expressed opposition to gangs,”
Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003). including testifying before the attack, refusal to join, and “vocal expressions
of anti-gang sentiments,” the Court found that the Board could reasonably
107
See Hernandez-Montiel v. INS, 225 F.3d 1084 (9th Cir. 2000). conclude that these opinions were not the only basis for the attacks. Id. at
108
USCIS Training Module, Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, 1227. But an applicant does not have to show that a protected ground is
Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) Refugee and Asylum Claims (28 an exclusive or even overarching reason for the persecution experienced or
Dec. 2011), p.16, available at http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/ feared, but only that the protected ground is “one central reason.” REAL ID
Humanitarian/Refugees%20%26%20Asylum/Asylum/Asylum%20Native%20 Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 302 (2005). The Board misread
the Supreme Court’s INS v. Elias-Zacarias decision (502 U.S. 478 (1992))
Documents%20and%20Static%20Files/RAIO-Training-March-2012.
and the well-established mixed motives doctrine. The Board was clearly
pdf (stating that gender identity “can be classified as either innate or wrong as a matter of law and should have been overruled. See Deborah
fundamental” and has “characteristics that an individual cannot change about Anker, Law of Asylum in the United States, (Thomson Reuters 2015), Ch.5.
him or herself or should not be required to change”) [hereinafter USCIS
LGBTI Training Materials].
124
See, e.g. Sangha v. INS, 103 F.3d 1482, 1488 (9th Cir. 1997).
109
Ibid., p.16 (“Harm imposed because an applicant was mistakenly
125
See Hernandez-Ortiz v. INS, 777 F.2d 509, 517 (9th Cir. 1985) (finding
perceived as belonging to a sexual minority may also qualify as ‘on account of’ the applicant’s actual political view, whether neutral or partisan, irrelevant
a protected ground.”). where government attributed certain political opinions to her); Desir v. Ilchert,
840 F.2d 723, 728 (9th Cir. 1988) (“We must view Desir as possessing a
110
See e.g, J.P.S., a/k/a S.J.P., v. Holder, Attorney General, No. 09-3291, political opinion because his persecutors...both attributed subversive views to
Agency No. A99-473-409 (3rd Cir. 2010) available at http://www.refworld. Desir and treated him as a subversive”).
org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid=4fbf263f2 (concerning a gay man who
was targeted by a non-State armed group).
126
INS v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478, 483 (1992).
111
See, e.g. Mockeviciene v. U.S. Atty. Gen., No. 06-12334 (11th Cir.
127
Ibid.; REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 119 Stat. 231 (2005) (“[A]
2007) (When Mockeviciene told her husband she was a lesbian, he “beat t least one central reason.”).
and raped her while his friends held her down. Mockeviciene reported the 128
UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, GA Res.
incident to the police. But instead of assisting her, she claimed that the 217A, UN GAOR, 3d Sess., Supp. No. 16, preamble, ¶ 1, Arts. 18 and 27, UN
police searched her mother’s apartment, where Mockeviciene was staying, Doc. A/810 (1948) (UDHR). Article 18 of the UDHR provides that “[e]veryone
presumably looking for ‘homosexual literature.’”). has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
112
UNHCR, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Guidelines, UN Doc includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone
HCR/GIP/12/09 (Oct. 23, 2012) ¶ 23, available at http://www.unhcr.org/ or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or
belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 27 of the UDHR
refworld/docid/50348afc2.html states that “[i]n those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities
113
See e.g. Gene Robinson, Out and Proud in El Salvador’s Murderous exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in
Gangland, The Daily Beast, 13 July 2014, available at http://www. community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture,
thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/13/out-and-proud-in-el-salvador-s- to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language.” Most
murderous-gangland.html; United States Department of State, El Salvador recently, UNHCR has described and interpreted this ground in the Guidelines
2013 Human Rights Report, (21 Mar. 2014) pp. 21-22, available at http:// on International Protection: Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Article
www.state.gov/documents/organization/220654.pdf 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status
of Refugees, UN Doc. HCR/GIP/04/06 (April 28, 2004), ¶ 4, available
114
UNHCR, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Guidelines, ¶ 10, at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4090f9794.pdf (“The travaux
available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/50348afc2.html préparatoires of the 1951 Convention show that religion-based persecution
115
In Hernandez-Montiel v. INS, the court concluded that a transgender formed an integral and accepted part of the refugee definition throughout the
Mexican was a member of the particular social group of “gay men with drafting process.”) [hereinafter UNHCR Religious Claims Guidelines].
female sexual identities.” Hernandez-Montiel v. INS, 225 F3d 1084 (9th 129
UNHCR, Religious Claims Guidelines.
Cir. 2000). In 2015, the 9th Circuit found that transgender asylum-seekers
are “especially visible, and vulnerable, to harassment and persecution”
130
UN General Assembly, International Convention on the Elimination of All
and should be assessed by US immigration officials differently than gay Forms of Racial Discrimination, opened for signature 7 Mar. 1966, Art. 1(1),
asylum-seekers. Avendano-Hernandez v. Lynch, No. 13-73744, Agency No. 660 U.N.T.S. 195, reprinted in 5 I.L.M. 352.
A099-823-350 (9th Cir. 2015). 131
United States Department of State, 2009 Human Rights Report:
116
UNHCR, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Guidelines, ¶¶ 8-9, Guatemala, (11 Mar. 2010) available at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/
available at http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/50348afc2.html. See also hrrpt/2009/wha/136114.htm
Victoria Neilson, Uncharted Territory: Choosing an Effective Approach in 132
Transgender-Based Asylum Claims, 32 Fordham Urban L. J. 265 (March will be summarily removed to their country of origin or last habitual residence
2005). unless they express a fear of return. If fear is expressed, these individuals
117
UNHCR, UNHCR letter to Attorney General relating to the Matter of Rodi are referred for asylum-related screening via one of two processes: the
Alvarado Peña, A73 753 922 (4 Jan. 2004), p.11. credible fear interview process or the reasonable fear interview process.
118
Lazo-Majano v. INS, 813 F.2d 1432, 1435 (9th Cir. 1987), officer refers the individual’s case to an Immigration Judge for further review.
119
UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 1: Gender-Related Individuals who have not been placed in removal proceedings may apply for
Persecution Within the Context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/ asylum affirmatively by filing an application for asylum with US Citizenship and
or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 7 May 2002, HCR/ Immigration Services. For a more detailed discussion, see footnote 15.
GIP/02/01, ¶ 36, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3d36f1c64. 133
While many of the women in this report would likely qualify for protection
html; UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No. 7: The Application under the 1951 Convention, there may be individuals who are found not
of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to to meet the refugee definition contained in the 1951 Convention or 1967
the Status of Refugees to Victims of Trafficking and Persons At Risk of Protocol but are nevertheless in need of international protection due to their
Being Trafficked, 7 April 2006, HCR/GIP/06/07, ¶ 40, available at: http:// lack of safety or security and their inability to receive State protection in their
www.refworld.org/docid/443679fa4.html. See also Atle Grahl-Madsen, countries of origin. Some of these individuals may fall within the broader
The Status of Refugees in International Law 228, 251 (1966). Refugee refugee definition contained in the Declaration. In its definition of “refugee”,
protection is not the exclusive domain of the elite, but “is designed to suit the the Cartagena Declaration includes “Persons who have fled their country
situation of common [people] not only of the philosophers.…The instinctive or because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized
spontaneous reaction to usurpation or oppression is [as] equally valid” as the violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human
“educated, cultivated, reflected opinion.” rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.”
Regional Refugee Instruments & Related, Cartagena Declaration on

Refugees, Colloquium on the International Protection of Refugees in Central
America, Mexico and Panama, III(3), 22 November 1984, available at: http://
www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36ec.html
134
will be summarily removed to their country of origin or last habitual residence
unless they express a fear of return. If fear is expressed, these individuals
are referred for asylum-related screening via one of two processes: the
credible fear interview process or the reasonable fear interview process.
officer refers the individual’s case to an Immigration Judge for further review.
Individuals who have not been placed in removal proceedings may apply for
asylum affirmatively by filing an application for asylum with US Citizenship and
Immigration Services. For a more detailed discussion, see footnote 15.
135
Representation Makes Fourteen-Fold Difference in Outcome: Immigration
Court ‘Women with Children’ Cases, Transactional Records Access
Clearinghouse (TRAC), Syracuse University, (25 July 2015), available at
http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/396/
136
UNHCR, Age, Gender and Diversity Accountability Report 2014 (2015) p.
13, available at http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/55a61f794.pdf
137
Ibid.
138
UNHCR, Refugee Women and International Protection, ExCom
Conclusion No. 39 (XXXVI), 18 October 1985, available at http://www.
unhcr.org/3ae68c43a8.html; UNHCR, Refugee Women, ExCom Conclusion
No. 54 (XXXIX), 10 October 1988, available at http://www.unhcr.
org/3ae68c4370.html; UNHCR, Refugee Women, ExCom Conclusion No.
60 (XL), 13 October 1989, available at http://www.unhcr.org/3ae68c4384.
html; UNHCR, Refugee Women and International Protection, ExCom
Conclusion No. 64 (XLI), 5 October 1990, available at http://www.unhcr.
org/3ae68c441f.html
54 WOMEN ON THE RUN

UNHCR is grateful to the 160 women who shared their personal stories
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
with us, making this report possible and their collective voices heard.
UNHCR thanks the US Government for its cooperation and in particular
the leadership and staff of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland
Security, which provided invaluable assistance in facilitating our interviews
with the women at their locations and sharing insight into the profiles of
women interviewed by US asylum officers.
For their assistance in identifying and coordinating interviews with
women across the United States, UNHCR is grateful to the numerous
nongovernmental organizations, legal service providers, attorneys, and
individuals who are tireless partners and advocates for asylum-seekers.
Editorial Team
Chiara Cardoletti-Carroll
Alice Farmer
Leslie E. Vélez
UNHCR also wishes to thank UNHCR colleagues and interns who

contributed to this endeavor, especially Amelia Ahl, Nicole Boehner,
Colleen Cowgill, and Lindsay Jenkins
External Contributors to this Report

Kelleen Corrigan Deborah Anker
Leigh Barrick
Ali Boyd
Aileen Ford
Kathleen Kelly
Elizabeth Kennedy
Evelyn Marquez
Cecilia Menjivar
Rachel Wilson
Cover Photo © 2015 Loris Guzzetta

56 WOMEN ON THE RUN
UNHCR’S ROLE IN PROTECTING WOMEN
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is entrusted by the United
Nations (UN) General Assembly with responsibility for providing international protection to
refugees and others of concern and, together with governments, for seeking permanent solutions
to their problems. UNHCR would not be able to carry out its essential duties without the support,
cooperation, and participation of States around the world.
UNHCR provides international protection and direct assistance to refugees in some 125 countries
throughout the world. It has over 60 years of experience supervising the international treaty-based
system of refugee protection and has twice received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work on
behalf of refugees. UNHCR works closely with governments and others to ensure that the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol are honored, and that national
and regional migration policies are sensitive to the protection needs of all individuals. International
refugee protection centers on providing refugees the protection of asylum, ensuring their human
rights are respected, and safeguarding the principle of non-refoulement: the prohibition against
returning individuals to a place where they would face danger.
The protection of women is a core priority of UNHCR at the global, regional, and national levels.
Gender inequality systematically prevents women and girls from claiming and enjoying their
rights, and is exacerbated by displacement. UNHCR is committed to promoting gender equality
and ensuring equal access to protection and assistance so women can fully participate in all
decisions affecting their lives. In 2014, for instance, the percentage of females playing active roles
in leadership and management structures in refugee communities increased from 42 to 46 per
cent;136 UNHCR’s sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) reporting and awareness raising led
to a doubling of reported incidents in 44 key countries; and women identified access to livelihood
options as key to creating self-reliance and sustainable solutions to displacement.137
UNHCR’s Executive Committee has adopted four general conclusions relating specifically to
refugee women.138 These conclusions note the need for UNHCR and host governments to give
particular attention to the international protection needs of refugee women; the need for reliable
information and statistics about refugee women in order to increase public awareness of their
situation; the need for an active senior-level steering committee on refugee women; and the need
for the development of training modules on the subject for field officers.
The UNHCR Regional Office in Washington, DC covering the United States of America and
the Caribbean gives priority to enhancing protection for women arriving in and within the United
States, including for women in detention. After coming into contact with increasing numbers of
women and families fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, UNHCR undertook
this study to understand the challenges they face.
The overarching goal for the study was to hear from the women themselves the reasons they
fled their countries of origin and the challenges they encountered while seeking protection. The
women’s voices provide the foundation for the ultimate aim of the study: to document profiles
of women from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico with a need for international
protection, and provide policy makers and adjudicators with necessary information to bolster
regional asylum for women.

WOMEN ON THE RUN: FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING
EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO
Since 2008, UNHCR has recorded a fivefold increase in asylum-seekers arriving to the United
States from the Northern Triangle region of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Escalating
violence and rising numbers of people fleeing the region also impact neighboring Mexico.
The most vulnerable, namely women and children, are often the first to flee violence. In 2014,
UNHCR released Children on the Run, a study on minors in the United States who had fled
violence in the Northern Triangle and Mexico. In August 2015, UNHCR conducted interviews
with 160 women who arrived in the United States since October 2013, totaling 63 women from
El Salvador, 30 from Guatemala, 30 from Honduras, and 37 from Mexico. Each had been
screened by the US Government and had either been granted asylum or found to have a credible
fear of persecution if returned to her home country. Women on the Run tells their stories in
detail, illustrating the growing refugee situation in the region and describing the staggering
levels of violence and persecution that forced them to flee.
This is a looming refugee crisis. Women and children in Central America and Mexico face
alarming rates of escalating, targeted violence and persecution from maras, criminal armed
groups, including murder, disappearance, assault, rape, and recruitment of children. Particular
groups of women, such as police officers, women with children, and transgender women,
face disproportionate levels of persecution. Escalating violence from well-connected, armed,
and dangerous criminal groups in the region has surpassed the governments’ capacity to
respond. When women and children flee, they face obstacles and additional dangers in
countries of asylum and transit.
The regional refugee-producing situation requires a regional response, and UNHCR calls on
all governments to provide women and children with desperately needed protection.
Visit womenonthe.run for more information.
#womenontherun
UNHCR
October 2015
unhcrwashington.org

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FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING

EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 1

2 WOMEN ON THE RUN

traveling with their mothers is comparable: recent US Government statistics show

4 WOMEN ON THE RUN

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 5

6 WOMEN ON THE RUN

10 WOMEN ON THE RUN

WHAT WOMEN WOULD SAY TO GOVERNMENTS

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 11

12 WOMEN ON THE RUN

This report is based on in-depth, individual interviews conducted by UNHCR

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 13

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

16 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 17

18 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 19

20 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 21

© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich

22 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 23

24 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 25

© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich

26 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 27

Acute Discrimination and Harassment their parents, or were threatened or attacked in

28 WOMEN ON THE RUN

REASONS WOMEN FLED EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 29

© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich

30 WOMEN ON THE RUN

34 WOMEN ON THE RUN

WOMEN AS REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 35

36 WOMEN ON THE RUN

WOMEN AS REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 37

38 WOMEN ON THE RUN

WOMEN AS REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

© 2015 UNHCR/Brian Reich

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 39

OBSTACLES WOMEN REPORTED IN SEEKING

OBSTACLES WOMEN REPORTED IN SEEKING INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 43

44 WOMEN ON THE RUN

OBSTACLES WOMEN REPORTED IN SEEKING INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF REFUGEES FLEEING EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, AND MEXICO 45

46 WOMEN ON THE RUN