Appeals Case Gives Hope to Guatemalan Refugees

By Amy Lieberman

WeNews correspondent

Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Guatemalan woman's asylum case could add being female to the list of other reasons--such as race, religion, nationhood or politics--for being granted freedom from persecution in the U.S. Thousands of refugee applicants have a stake in the decision.

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Perdomo's Journey

Perdomo left Guatemala City in 1991 at age 15 to join her mother in the United States.

Now living in Reno, Nev., she no longer has family or ties in Guatemala.

Her outsider status could make her more susceptible to attacks if she returns to Guatemala, her attorney Hutchinson said.

"Murders of women continue to increase because the law isn't applied," said Irma Chacon, shelter coordinator of the Survivor's Foundation, referring to the country's 2008 milestone law giving first-time recognition to femicide as a punishable crime. "Misogynistic behaviors are difficult for some courts to understand, even in some cases where a woman receives 30 shots. They cannot process the hate implied in that."

The Survivor's Foundation provides legal and psychological support to gender-based violence victims and families of femicide victims. It has handled a record-breaking 435-femicide cases so far this year. The organization is regularly threatened to stop its work and operates a 16-member armed security team to keep watch over its office, provide shelter for victims and witnesses and follow and guard its staff members.

While nearly 40 percent of violence against women occurs at home, women are also routinely harassed, assaulted and killed by co-workers in factories and offices after they rebuff their sexual advances or end a relationship, the group says.

Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. case, the Myrna Mack Foundation's Garcia said asylum is not the long-term solution.

"As a long-term solution, asylum is not a real option," she said, speaking through a translator. "It may provide a good outcome for this woman, but in a deeper sense we need to see better results and to urge the Guatemalan justice system to be more effective."