Credibility Assessments and Victims of Female Genital Mutilation: A Re-evaluation of the Refugee Determination Process

The article examines the importance of credibility in refugee hearings and the gendered problems associated with its evaluation. The author uses female genital mutilation (FGM) as a case study, as many women claiming asylum on the grounds of FGM face difficulty in establishing credibility. The article begins by defining refugee status and the relevance of credibility in establishing a claim as per the UNHCR handbook. Next, the author discusses credibility determinations in Ireland. The article then draws links between credibility and FGM and the author concludes by proposing alternatives to the current method of credibility evaluation that may be better suited to gender-specific claims and therefore result in more accurate determinations.