Gender, persecution and the concept of politics in the asylum determination process

This article raises concerns over the generalization of women's experiences into the category of persecution of a particular social group. The focus of the article is on the characterization of political which fails to recognize how women can be vulnerable to political violence even though they are participating in political activities in non-traditional ways. The author advocates that the understanding of political persecution in the refugee context must be brought within the private realm as this is where most of women's activities occur. The article concludes by noting the importance of interpretive guidelines on gender-based persecution, but also advocates for a reconceptualization of many of the ideas, including that of political activity, which form the basis for the Refugee Convention. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, International]