A Successful Case is Made for Granting Refugee Status to a Woman Fleeing Her Own Country to Protect Her Daughter from Female Genital Mutilation

This article discusses the significance of the 1996 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) decision in the case of Elizebeth Kuma. In this case, the threat of female genital cutting (FGC) to the applicant's three-year-old daughter was considered sufficient grounds for recognition of her refugee status. According to the author, the ruling built on recent national developments in asylum law and sent a clear message regarding the UNHCR's stance on FGC. Because the reasoning for UNHCR rulings are not publicly available, the author refers to the various obligations found in international human rights instruments such as the Women's Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention Against Torture (CAT) that could be used to support the decision. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]