Woman Granted Refuge From Genital Mutilation

A woman who left her home in Togo because she feared having her genitals cut off has been granted asylum in the United States in a landmark decision Thursday by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

“We find that female genital mutilation can be the basis for a grant of asylum,” the 12-member board said in its decision on behalf of Fauziya Kasinga, 19.

Kasinga has a well-founded fear of country-wide persecution and her fears are “on account of her social group,” so she should be granted asylum, the board said.

Previously, immigration judges could only grant asylum to women who could show they would be mutilated if they returned to their countries and could prove that local authorities would not protect them.

Women would not qualify for asylum if they had already been mutilated or if they face only “social and economic hardship” and community ostracism if they refused to submit to the procedure.