The Fight for Safety: Women and Children Seeking Refuge in the U.S.

Every March, as Women’s History Month celebrates the achievements and resilience of women, it’s also a time to recognize those still fighting for basic rights—especially the right to live without fear. For many women worldwide, fleeing their homeland isn’t about seeking a better life in the typical sense. It’s about survival.

Among them are trans women, who face extreme violence and persecution in many parts of the world simply for being who they are. Their cases, often fraught with additional barriers and skepticism, have contributed to the ongoing fight for gender-based protections under asylum law. Additionally, female children fleeing forced marriages, human trafficking, and violence face immense barriers in seeking asylum. Their vulnerability and legal challenges demand urgent attention.

Why Women and Children Leave: The Harrowing Reality

People often talk about asylum seekers in broad strokes—political unrest, war, economic hardship. But for many women and children, the reasons are deeply personal, tied to the very fabric of their existence. They run from forced marriages, domestic violence, human trafficking, and cultural practices that strip them of bodily autonomy. These are not isolated incidents; they are systemic. And for many, the United States is their last hope.

Trapped by Violence

Imagine being told that your safety depends entirely on staying silent. That speaking up against an abusive husband, father, or even a community leader could mean death. For women and children in countries where domestic violence is tolerated—or worse, legally excused—there’s often no way out. Shelters are rare. Police don’t intervene. Family honor outweighs personal safety.

In countries where laws fail women and girls, they turn to the only option left: leaving. But asylum isn’t guaranteed. In recent years, policies have shifted, making it harder for victims of gender-based violence to qualify. Yet the need remains urgent.

Although gender-based violence is a serious human rights abuse, the 1951 Refugee Convention does not explicitly mention sex or gender as a protected ground. However, it does provide protection under the category of “membership in a particular social group.” Through sustained efforts in Congress, the immigration courts, and advocacy groups, survivors of gender-based violence have increasingly been recognized as entitled to protection under this category.

The Struggle for Protection: Child Migrants and the Flores Agreement

Children, especially girls, face distinct and often even greater dangers when seeking asylum. The landmark Flores Settlement Agreement (1997) set critical standards for the treatment of migrant children in U.S. custody, ensuring they are housed in safe, sanitary, and licensed facilities while awaiting legal proceedings. It established a policy favoring their release from detention into the care of a responsible adult, helping to prevent indefinite detention.

However, protections for unaccompanied minors are under increasing threat. Immigration enforcement policies now target unaccompanied children for deportation, despite many having legitimate asylum claims. The expansion of tracking systems, DNA testing of sponsors, and increased scrutiny of children in protective custody raise serious concerns about their welfare and access to legal protections. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008 was designed to shield these vulnerable children, but shifting policies are placing them at greater risk of deportation, trafficking, and family separation.

Gender and Sex Bias in U.S. Asylum Law

A persistent challenge within the U.S. asylum system is the conflation of gender and sex, leading to biased social constructs that disproportionately impact women and girls. Scholars argue that the asylum process has long centered on male applicants and their experiences, resulting in a system that often overlooks the realities of gender-based persecution.

At the international level, the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention defines a “refugee” but does not explicitly list sex or gender as protected grounds. Similarly, the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 also fails to mention these categories, creating a significant gap in protections for women and girls fleeing gender-based violence.

Persecution Taxonomy: Violations of Bodily Integrity

Gender and sex bias in asylum law becomes particularly evident when examining cases that involve violations of bodily integrity. These cases fall into four primary categories:

  • Mutilation: Cases like Matter of Kasinga and Mohammed v. Gonzales involve female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that inflicts severe physical and psychological harm specifically on women and girls.
  • Sterilization: Matter of Y–T–L– addresses forced sterilization, demonstrating another form of sex-related persecution.
  • Dress Code Violations: Fatin v. I.N.S. and Matter of S–A– highlight the persecution of women and girls for defying gender-based dress norms.
  • Intimate Partner Violence and Forced Child Marriage: Cases such as Matter of A–R–C–G– and Matter of A–B– deal with intimate partner violence and forced marriage as a form of gender-based persecution.

Honoring the Women and Girls Who Changed Asylum Law

Progress in gender-based asylum law has been driven by the courage of women and girls who refused to be silenced. Their cases paved the way for broader protections, ensuring that future asylum seekers would not have to face the same injustices alone.

  • Fauziya Kasinga: A young woman from Togo, Kasinga’s case set a groundbreaking precedent in Matter of Kasinga (1996), when the BIA ruled that FGM constitutes persecution and granted her asylum.
  • Rodi Alvarado: Her harrowing escape from domestic violence in Guatemala led to Matter of R-A- (1999), which sparked a long legal battle and advocacy efforts to recognize domestic violence as a basis for asylum.
  • A-R-C-G-: The anonymous woman whose case led to Matter of A-R-C-G- (2014), a critical decision affirming that domestic violence survivors could qualify for asylum under the category of “particular social group.”
  • Flores and Child Migrants: The lawsuit that led to the Flores Settlement Agreement strengthened protections for unaccompanied migrant children, ensuring that young girls in detention were not indefinitely held in unsafe or restrictive environments.
  • Trans Women Seeking Protection: Many trans women fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries have fought for recognition under asylum law, challenging the system to acknowledge gender identity as a basis for persecution.

The Power of Resilience

And yet, women and children persist. They take risks many of us can’t fathom—crossing borders in secrecy, enduring detention centers, fighting legal battles in a foreign language. They do it not just for themselves, but often for their children, determined to break cycles of violence.

What Can We Do?

Change starts with awareness. Supporting organizations that provide legal assistance to asylum seekers, advocating for fair immigration policies, and amplifying the voices of those affected all matter. These women and girls aren’t statistics. They are daughters, mothers, and sisters who refuse to accept violence as fate.

The time has come to push for comprehensive reforms in U.S. asylum law, ensuring that gender and sex-related persecution is no longer overlooked.

This Women’s History Month, let’s honor not just the women whose names are in history books but also those fighting, every day, just to live.

Because seeking safety shouldn’t be a privilege. It should be a right.