Annotation:
These Guidelines issued by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board are often cited as the first explicit governmental recognition that persecution on account of gender is a valid ground on which to claim refugee status. The guidelines emphasize that for these claims to be accepted a link must be made between gender and the feared persecution and that these claims are still assessed on an individual basis. There are several items of note within the Guidelines including that persecution on account of gender can occur as a result of both public and private action and that sub-groups of women could also be considered as persecuted groups. The Guidelines also review some of the evidentiary issues in these types of claims and provide recommendations for how to best recognize the social and political circumstances of these women. [Descriptors: Migration - Refugees and Immigration, Canada]