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Please pardon our appearance as our website is under construction. Check back this fall for a brand new CGRS website!

CGRS Leads the Way on Domestic Violence Asylum

Matter of R.A. (Guatemala)
Download DHS's brief to the Attorney General in R.A. (2004) urging that Rody Alvarado be granted asylum here. You can read more about this landmark case granting asylum to a woman who suffered domestic violence and find other legal documents and information pertaining to Matter of R.A. here.

Matter of L.R. (Mexico)
Download DHS's brief to the BIA in L.R. (2009) recognizing that domestic violence may be a basis for asylum and setting forth a road map for establishing eligibility for asylum based on membership in a particular social group here. In addition, copies of CGRS’s March 2010 filing in the L.R. case on remand are now available. You can request your copy here.

CGRS and Appellate Litigation
See our May 2012 newsletter for an overview of our impact gender asylum litigation.

Background
For more information on gender asylum issues, click here.

 

 

 

 

Our Mission
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies protects the fundamental human rights of refugee women, children, LGBTQI individuals, and others who flee persecution in their home countries. CGRS provides legal expertise and training, engages in impact litigation; policy development; research; and in-country fact-finding, and uses international human rights tools to advance refugees’ human rights and address the root causes of their persecution.

CGRS is Hiring for Fall 2012!
CGRS is seeking talented undergrad, graduate and law students to join our team this Fall.  Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the positions are filled.  
 
-  Refugee and Human Rights Law Clerk position, click here

CGRS Research and Data Collection
CGRS tracks and monitors decisions in asylums cases at all levels, from Asylum Offices to the federal Courts of Appeal, and uses this information to assist attorneys as well as to monitor decision-making trends and inform our advocacy. To report your case outcome, please fill out this form or send us an email here

CGRS Technical Assistance
CGRS helps attorneys win cases for women, children, LGBTQI, and other asylum seekers by providing training, legal consultation, and legal support materials. We have compiled extensive resources to assist attorneys, including practice advisories and information about unpublished decisions, country conditions, and expert witnesses. Click here to request our assistance with an asylum case.

Most recently, CGRS finalized three affidavits with experts on domestic violence (América Romualdo Cárcomo) and gender-based violence more generally (Aracely Bautista Bayona) in El Salvador and on gender-based violence in Guatemala (Elisa Portillo Nájera) and collaborated with expert Nancy Lemon to update a declaration regarding domestic violence that addresses the relationship between alcohol and domestic violence, as well as the connection between domestic violence and child abuse. These affidavits are available upon request here.

CGRS International Human Rights Work
CGRS collaborates with partner organizations to use regional and international human rights defense instruments to address the root causes of violence that force refugees to flee. We have conducted fact-finding missions to Guatemala, Haiti, El Salvador, and Honduras to investigate violence against women and children and to work with grassroots organizations in those countries. Visit our campaigns page to view some of our international human rights work.

CGRS Reports and Publications
Here are links to a few of our most recent publications:

Struggling to Survive: Sexual Exploitation of Displaced Women and Girls in Port au Prince, Haiti (2012), download here.
Crimes Without Punishment: Violence Against Women in Guatemala (2010), download here.