TEXAS JOURNAL OF WOMEN AND THE LAW

This article argues that the category of gender is an additional ground of persecution that needs to be recognized. Part I examines various types of persecution faced by women, namely: female circumcision, rape, morality codes, and physical violence. Part II examines the current status of asylum law with respect to gender-based persecution by looking at several prominent asylum cases in the United States, Canada, France, and Australia.

In the case of Re Kasinga (1996) Fauziya Kasinga claimed the need for asylum to avoid the practice of female genital mutilation and was granted refugee status by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. This article discusses the implications of this case for other gender-related asylum claims based on harmful traditional practices and/or violations of the right to bodily and sexual integrity. New definitions and future directions for political asylum and international human rights law are proposed.

This article was inspired by the 1998 Medical and Ecological Problems of Workers Health Conference (MEPWHC), in which researchers from around the world presented alarming data on the health of pregnant workers. Part I considers the meaning of health and discusses the health protections offered by international human rights documents. Part II examines a declaration written after the MEPWHC by the World Health Organisation/Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Committee of Experts on Reproductive Health at Work (COERHW) and proposes areas for further consideration when the COERHW reconvenes.