Vallabhaneni (September 27 2001) Board of Immigration Appeals. NOW Legal Defense Fund and others filed this amicus in support of the appeal by Aruna C. Vallabhaneni of the decision of the Immigration Judge denying her application for political asylum despite an undisputed record of years of severe domestic violence and her inability to obtain protection from the government of India. The record before the judge established that Ms. Vallabhaneni was persecuted in the past and that she has a well-founded fear that she will continue to be persecuted in the future by her husband if she is forced to return to India, that the persecution she experienced and which she fears was inflicted because of her membership in a particular social group defined in whole or in part by her gender, and that she is not able to obtain protection from her government. The Immigration Judge’s decision should be reversed and Ms. Vallabhaneni’s application for asylum should be granted.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The Board of Immigration Appeals Should Not Remand this Case to the Immigration Court….13
• The Proposed Rule on the Meaning of “Membership in a Particular Social Group” is an Expression of the Understanding of the Department of Justice of Current Law Regarding the Refugee Definition……………………………15
• Ms. Vallabhaneni Has Established Past Persecution and a Well-Founded Fear of Persecution on Account of Her Membership in a Gender-Based Social Group……20
• Ms. Vallabhaneni has Demonstrated Serious Harm and Failure of State Protection, Constituting Persecution…………39

In the Matter of RA (February 13 2004), Board of Immigration Appeals. NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and others filed this amicus with Attorney General Ashcroft discussing domestic violence as a basis for Gender Based Asylum. Briefs filed before the Board of Immigration Appeals (1999) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (1999).

Traore v. Mukasey (April 15th 2008) US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit. Amicus brief compiled by International Women’s Human Rights Law Clinic (“IWHR”), Legal Momentum, and Reed Smith LLP, among others, which sought to reverse BIA denial of gender-based asylum for appellant Alima Traore. The case argues that Traore has established eligibility for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture because she has endured past persecution in the form of female genital mutilation (“FGM”), has a well-founded fear of future persecution, and likely faces torture and a threat to life or freedom because she is a female member of the Bambara tribe in Mali.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• International Norms Guide Eligibility For Asylum, Withholding Of Removal, And Protection Under The Convention Against Torture In The U.S……………………….11
• Asylum And Withholding Of Removal ………………….11
  

Maria Esterlina Perez Vigil v. U.S. (February 29 2016) 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. NIWAP, and Immigration Law Professors from Texas, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Maria Esterlina Perez Vigil a victim of domestic violence, who had denied her request for asylum because she was able to move out the residence that she shared with the abuser. The brief discussed the dynamics of abusive relationships and explained that physical separation from an abuser rarely means that an abused woman has successfully left the relationship or marriage and stopped the cycle of violence. Indeed, the abuser’s control of the victim can often continue well after the victim moves out, particularly where children are involved. This amicus was filed in the 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in a case in which Perez Vigil urged the court to overturn the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration`s ruling that denied her request seeking asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the CAT. Circuit Judges King, Haynes and Higginson “grant in part and deny in part the petition for review, and remand to the BIA for further proceedings consistent with this opinion” (05/04/2018).

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Research shows that an abused partner generally does not—and cannot—terminate the abusive relationship merely by “moving out” or ending the cohabitation………8
• Whether or not the separated parties have any continuing legal arrangement, their relationship (and the attendant abuse) will necessarily continue if they have children in common……..14
• An abused woman’s attempt to leave the relationship may cause the abuser to redirect his violence to third parties as a way to maintain control………19

Yessica Alvarado Euceda vs. Loretta Lynch (February 25 2016) US Court of Appeals 5th Circuit. NIWAP Inc. served as the lead amicus represented by Winston and Strawn in an appeal of a denial of gender based asylum in the case of a Honduran battered immigrant who unsuccessfully attempted to end her relationship with her abusive boyfriend who was the father of her two children. The immigration judge and a single Board of Immigration Appeals judge denied gender based asylum to a battered mother who fled Honduras when she could find no protection from being subjected to ongoing abuse from the father of her children.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Research shows that an abused partner generally does not— and cannot—terminate the abusive relationship merely by “moving out” or ending the cohabitation. ………………………………… 12
• Whether or not the separated parties have any continuing legal arrangement, their relationship (and the attendant abuse) will necessarily continue if they have children in common. ………………. 19
• An abused woman’s attempt to leave the relationship may cause the abuser to redirect his violence to third parties as a way to maintain control. ……………………………………………………….. 25

In The Matter of: Suyi Varquero-Cubias (April 5 2016) Board of Immigration Appeals. NIWAP, assisted in a brief filed by Tahirih Justice Center and Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, in a case of a battered immigrant from El Salvador who separated from her abusive boyfriend and her abuser continued to stalk, sexually assault, and threaten her for the next two years until she fled in fear of her life for the United States. The Immigration Judge denied her asylum case based on the fact that she was not married to the abuser and that she had physically separated from her abuser. This amicus brief explained to the Board of Immigration Appeals that divorce or a woman’s other attempts to separate are not dispositive of a woman’s ability to leave the abusive relationship where she lacks the power to end the abuser’s use of domestic violence. NIWAP provided social science research on separation violence and abusers’ power and control to continue to perpetrate the post-separation coercive control, abuse and sexual violence supporting the victim’s claim for gender-based asylum.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Significant Confusion Regarding the Scope and Application of Matter of A-R-C-G- in Subsequent Domestic Violence Asylum Cases Requires Clarification…………………………………………………………… 3
• Matter of A-R-C-G- settled disagreement over whether domestic violence survivors merit asylum protection but lacks clarity in key respects ………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
• The Board Should Clarify in a Precedential Decision the Criteria for Determining When a Domestic Relationship is Immutable for Asylum Purposes ………………………………………………………………16
• The Board should clarify that divorce or a woman’s other attempts to separate are not dispositive of a woman’s ability to leave where she lacks the power to end the domestic relationship…………… 17

S.E.R.L v. U.S. (September 25 2017) Federal Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit. NIWAP, represented by Crowell & Moring, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of a Honduran woman who had helped her daughter escape from a domestic violence perpetrator who had trafficked the daughter to Mexico. The brief discussed the extent to which those who intervene to protect their family from perpetrators of domestic violence are at risk of violent retaliation by the perpetrator, up to and including death. She fled Honduras seeking asylum in the U.S. out of fear of more retaliation. This amicus was filed in the 3rd Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in a case in which S.E.R.L is seeking gender based asylum as a Honduran woman who intervened in a domestic violence relationship who are left completely vulnerable to violent retaliation.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Honduras is Notoriously Dangerous for Women Because the Country Has Rampant and Unchecked Gender-Based Violence Against Women…………….. 7
• Honduran Women Face Rampant Gender-Based Violence.…………………………………………………7
• Domestic Violence Endangers Family Members Who Attempt to Intercede on Behalf of the Direct Victims…………………………….. 14
• Honduran Women Who Intervene to Protect A Family Member from Domestic Violence Face a Great Danger as They Have No Protection Against Retaliation………………………………………………. 17

Rosa Marisol Avelar Oliva (February 16 2018) Board of Immigration Appeals. NIWAP, represented by Crowell & Moring, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of an El Salvadorian woman who suffered child abuse and was held in isolation for years. The Immigration Judge found that she was not credible. The brief discussed the psychological and developmental effects of trauma and how childhood rape and sexual abuse can significantly impact witness’s demeanor and ability to testify and report the abuse. The brief addressed how childhood trauma impairs brain development in key regions responsible for memory, reasoning, and planning. Rosa Marisol is seeking gender-based asylum and withholding of removal.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• In Assessing an Asylum Applicant’s Credibility under the “Totality of the Circumstances,” an Immigration Judge Must Consider the Psychological and Developmental Effects of Trauma. 3
• Childhood Sexual Abuse Can Significantly Impact a Witness’s Demeanor and Ability to Recall Information While Testifying……..5
• Childhood Trafficking, Like Other Forms of Severe Childhood Trauma, Can Also Impact a Witness’s Ability to Testify…………………….8
• Childhood Trauma Impairs Brain Development in Key Regions Responsible for Memory, Reasoning, and Planning……………11
• The Immigration Judge Failed to Consider the Neurobiological Effects of Marisol’s Childhood Sexual Abuse and Trafficking in Finding that She Was Not Credible………….15

W.M.V.C.; A.P.V. v. U.S (February 28 2018) 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. NIWAP, represented by Baker & McKenzie LLP, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of W.M.V.C. and her son A.P.V DV who suffered domestic violence and life-threats in a non-consensual relationship. The amicus brief discussed that the same power dynamics that precipitate domestic violence in heterosexual marital relationships apply and are present in same-sex and non-extramarital relationships. It also discussed that the same factors that make a woman unable to leave an abusive opposite-sex relationship also make a woman unable to leave an abusive same-sex relationship, especially when the abuser is connected with law enforcement. This amicus was filed in the 5th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in a case in which W.M.V.C. and A.P.V are seeking to overturn BIA’s decision that denied Petitioners’ applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Motion for Leave to Appear at Oral Argument was granted with provision that amici should not repeat Plaintiffs arguments (6/13/2023).
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Domestic violence is about power and control………………….. 8
• The same power dynamics that precipitate domestic violence in heterosexual marital relationships apply and are exacerbated in are present in same-sex homosexual and non-extramarital relationships. …………… 13
• A victim of domestic violence cannot end the abusive relationship by simply moving out………………….……..15
• Honduras does not adequately protect domestic violence victims.…………. 17

N.Y.C.C. v. Whitaker (November 26 2018) Seventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. NIWAP, represented by Winston & Strawn LLP, submitted this amicus brief which explains that coercive control is one of the defining characteristics of domestic violence relationship as a result leaving a shared residence with an abuser does not bring an end to the abuse. Additionally, the brief discusses the particular dangers when the perpetrator engages in stalking his victim. Petition for review was denied by William P. Barr (07/19/19) on the grounds that she “has not carried the weighty burden of showing that the record compelled the granting of asylum”.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The defining characteristic of domestic violence is an abuser’s coercive control, which does not end simply because a victim leaves the shared residence….21
• One of the most extreme ways for an abuser to maintain control over the victim after separation is through stalking……………………….23
• In the instant case, the abuser continues to stalk Petitioner even though she has moved out…..33

Nelsa Rosa Hernandez Cabrera; A.J.E.H. v. U.S. US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit (February 14 2019) Fourth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. NIWAP, represented by Winston & Strawn LLP, filed an amicus curiae on behalf of Nelsa Rosa Hernandez Cabrera; A.J.E.H. The petitioner is a domestic violence victim, from Honduras, who suffered physical abuse and enormous amount of control from her husband. Hernandez Cabrera is seeking to overturn a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals that denied her request seeking asylum.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The defining characteristic of domestic violence is an abuser’s coercive control, which does not end simply because a victim leaves the shared residence……………………………….15
• Children in Common……………………………………………..18
• Moving out of a shared home does not bring an end to an abusive relationship but instead can intensify the violence.……………………………….26

S.K.E.R. v. William P. Barr (April 8 2019) Court of Immigration Appeals 5th Circuit. NIWAP filed an amicus curiae brief with Winston and Strawn LLP on behalf of a Honduran woman who was a victim of domestic violence. The brief discusses the complexity of domestic violence and how the victim was unable to physically separate from or end the abuse by leaving her abuser due to the likelihood of and fear of the abuser’s retaliation and ongoing violence.

Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Coercive control does not end simply because the victim manages to escape from her abuser’s residence. ….17
• There are various ways, aside from physical abuse, in which an abuser can exert coercive control over his victim. ………..24
• Children in Common ……………………………………………..24
• Coercive control can be influenced by cultural norms and country conditions. …………………………32

Reina Victoria Rodriguez-Ramirez v. William P. Barr (August 16 2019) US Court of Appeals 5th Circuit. NIWAP filed an amicus curiae brief with Baker and McKenzie LLP discussing how relationships in which incest is occurring qualify as a domestic relationship under U.S. asylum laws and how laws and the social science addressing domestic violence should apply in incest-based asylum cases.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The Incest Relationship is a Domestic Relationship. ……………………………..5

Maria Luisa Rodriguez Tornes v. William P. Barr (October 18 2019) US. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit. NIWAP led an amicus brief with DLA Piper for a case discussing how domestic violence victims are able to receive gender-based asylum because the domestic violence they experience is based on their social group membership. NIWAP’s brief documented the cultural, religious and social conditions that domestic violence victims suffer that serves as a valid basis for domestic violence related gender based asylum. This brief provided the social science support for a Tahirih Justice Center case challenging the Attorney General Sessions Justice Department position on domestic violence related gender based asylum cases. Petition for asylum was granted and remand for further proceedings by Circuit Judge Graber and Judge Richard A. Paez (04/05/21). “BIA’s assertion that domestic violence is presumptively a private matter is not supported by substantial evidence”.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Social science research confirms that gender-based violence is not merely a private matter based on “personal” animosity but is instead based on the survivors’ membership in a particular social group. ……………………………………………………………………………… 4
• Treating domestic violence as purely “personal” for purposes of deciding asylum claims ignores ample evidence that, in many places, widespread violence against women is an outgrowth of broader social and cultural prejudices, and that governments in such places do not protect women against domestic violence. ………..10
• Cultural, religious, and social conditions in some countries give rise to widespread gender-based and domestic violence. ……………………………………………………………11
• The same cultural and structural conditions render states unwilling or unable to protect survivors of domestic violence and other gender-based crimes. …………………………….14

Pierre Salame Ajami v. Veronica Tescari Solano (April 19 2022), 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. NIWAP, represented by DLA Piper and Crowell and Moring, filed an Amicus Brief in which a Venezuelan mother who had been granted asylum in the United States as a victim of domestic violence was ordered by the District Court in a Hague Convention case to return her children who had also been granted asylum in the U.S. to their father in Venezuela. This appeal highlighted the error of law that the District Court made in failing to consider the fact that the mother and children had been deemed credible by DHS and granted asylum. The brief provided social science data which demonstrated how the District Court had also failed to consider the impact of trauma on testimony of domestic violence victims.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• The Majority Improperly Affirmed the District Court’s Opinion, Which Ignored Critical Facts……….. 2
• The Majority Improperly Credited the District Court’s Credibility Determinations Despite its Failure to Consider Relevant Evidence………………. 7

Ada Merary Rivas-Ramos v Merrick Garland (June 2, 2023) 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, NIWAP, Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, LLP. Amicus brief of a case where Ada Rivas-Ramos faced abuse at the hands of her former partner with whom she had been in a relationship with since she was 14 years old and shared children. Rivas-Ramos testified as to the sustained abuse she suffered throughout their relationship, including that the abuser hit her in the face with a bottle, threatened her and their children’s lives, and order men whom he sent after her to sexually assault her. The brief, examined the social science research around intimate partner violence that explains physically leaving a residence shared with an abusive partner does not mean the survivor has successfully ended the relationship. This is particularly true where there are children in common, when there is economic abuse, and when the abuser was coercively controlling the victim. The Board’s denial of her asylum rested on the premise she would be able to leave the relationship again, which is inapposite to the research. The brief also explained many indicators present in both the case history and in peer-reviewed research that showed Rivas-Ramos was likely to face increased violence or even death should she be forced to return to Honduras. Many risk factors – including stalking, which has the highest indication of an abuser killing their victim – were present in Rivas-Ramos’ case.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:

• Ms. Rivas-Ramos Was Trapped in a Violent Domestic Relationship in Honduras…………………… 3
• Coercive Control Exercised By An Abuser Prevents Their Partner From Terminating The Abusive Relationship By Merely Ending Cohabitation …………………. 5
• Research Shows That Relationships Similar to Ms. Rivas-Ramos’s Often End in Lethal Violence………………………….. 9
• Stalking Behavior Is One Of The Strongest Factors In Predicting Continued Intimate Partner Violence And Evidences The Abuser’s Attempts To Continue To Control Their Partner …………..….. 14