ECJ: Protection status possible for women due to domestic violence

Women at risk of domestic violence can be granted refugee or protected status. This was decided by the European Court of Justice. Women are often helpless against this form of violence.

The EU’s highest court has made a fundamental decision that domestic violence can also be a reason for women to be recognized as refugees. Protection should be granted even if the threat does not come from the state but from private individuals.

The lawsuit was filed by a Turkish Kurd who entered Bulgaria in 2018. During interviews, she stated that she was forced to marry at the age of 16, had three daughters and was repeatedly beaten by her husband during her marriage. Her own family never helped her.

She fled the apartment in 2016. The following year she filed a criminal complaint, partly because her husband repeatedly threatened her on the phone. She was divorced in 2018 and now fears that he, his or her family will kill her if she has to return to Turkey.

Bulgarian courts rejected protection status

However, the Bulgarian courts refused to grant the woman protection. Domestic violence is not a reason for persecution under Bulgarian law, nor is she a victim of persecution based on her gender. Above all, she could not receive any protection because it was not the Turkish state that persecuted her.

ECJ refers to Istanbul Convention

But these arguments do not work, the EU’s highest judges have now ruled. The Grand Chamber, an important body of the Court, has ruled that if women are subjected to sexual or domestic violence in their country of origin because of their gender, they can be granted international protection in the EU. Be it that they are recognized as refugees or at least not allowed to be deported.

The court refers to the so-called Istanbul Convention, i.e. the 2011 international agreement on the protection of women from violence.

Peter von Auer from the aid organization Pro Asyl welcomed the verdict: The decision shows once again how important the Istanbul Convention is to protect women from domestic violence and that it also plays a role in asylum law.

In the ruling, the European Court of Justice also addresses the question of the extent to which threatened women have the opportunity to change their own situation. The judges’ view: Women who avoid a forced marriage or leave their household are often unable to do anything. This would be frowned upon by society in certain countries and they would be stigmatized.

Pro Asyl hopes for “Europe-wide clarity” through the verdict

The ECJ has not yet moved as clearly as in this decision, said von Auer from Pro Asyl. The Court is currently hearing the case of an Afghan woman in a comparable situation.

In Germany, however, the courts have often ruled in favor of women in recent years, said von Auer. But he thinks that there is now clarity across Europe. The ECJ has shown that in these cases protection must be granted across Europe.

However, according to this ruling, authorities and courts must still examine the respective facts individually. The ECJ ruled that the threat should be assessed on a case-by-case basis “with vigilance and caution.”