A little bit of good news

[ismnotwasm]

Court Filing Allows Asylum for Battered Women
A legal brief filed by the Obama administration reverses a Bush administration policy that prohibited battered women from seeking asylum in the US.

The brief was filed in the case of a Mexican woman who requested asylum in the US because she feared she would be murdered by her husband. According to the New York Times, the man had a history of violence towards his wife; he held her captive, raped her at gunpoint multiple times, and attempted to burn her alive upon learning she was pregnant. Her request for asylum was denied in 2006 by an immigration judge. The brief filed in April, but just released to the public, by the Obama administration urges that her case be given further review
http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11824



This part is sad. Women having experienced this who want asylum, it's my guess, not sure knowledge as I haven't looked into it lately-- they may be trying to protect their children, or remove themselves from a practice that accepts torturing little girls this way;

The Public News Service reports that the new policy of asylum will not protect women who are victims of genital mutilation.

[BlueIris]

1. That is good news.

First I've heard this month, really (re: women's issues and U.S. foreign policy).

[bliss_eternal]

2. Coincidence....

...I actually came here to discuss a show profiling women in prisons. In every case profiled, the women were victims of abuse--(battered women, spousal abuse, boyfriend, etc.) It was so heartwrenching to watch and hear their stories.

So this is great news, that maybe the prison system won't continue to be filled by women protecting themselves (and/or their children), or merely shutting down emotionally and retaliating after years of abuse.