Citation

Nagashima M. Rev. Leg. Polit. Sci. 2007; 44(1): 66-79.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Japan Association of Legal and Political Sciences)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Gender-based persecution is to inflict a mental and physical distress to someone because of a gender-based violence and harm to his/her life. It includes sexual violence, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, forced family-planning, discrimination against homosexuals, etc. Since mid-1990s, UN and western countries like Canada have taken up gender-based persecution as one reason to become a refugee. UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) appealed to the member nations to considerably review refugee claimants fearing the gender-based persecution through the interpretation of "membership of a particular social group" which is one of the refugee recognition reasons. In response to this, the "Guideline on Women Refugee Claimants Fearing Gender-Related Persecution" wes issued by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) in 1993. And other 5 countries (United States, Australia, England, South Africa, and Sweden) issued their guidelines related with the gender-based persecution. In Japan, reflecting with severe refugee recognition system, each gender-related case was rejected. Judges regarded "persecution" as private issue and no-applicable to refugee protection. Comparing with Japan, Canada has actively recognized claimants fearing the gender-related persecution. Canada has implemented a gender-sensitive refugee protection through a flexible interpretation of the term, "membership of a particular social group". Canada seems to collect an adequate information to judge the gender-related persecutions, and has a strong human-rights awareness. Japan, comparing with other industrialized countries, has a poor under-standing of the gender-sensitive protection. However, Japan needs to consider the possibility of application of this concept for achievement of non-discrimination refugee recognition system in Japan.