CJEU: discriminatory measures faced by women under the Taliban regime constitute acts of persecution

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The European Court of Justice has handed down a judgment stating that the discriminatory measures adopted in respect of women by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan constitute acts of persecution:

First, the Court answers that some of the measures in question must be classified alone as ‘acts of persecution’, because they constitute a serious breach of a fundamental right. This is true of forced marriage, which is comparable to a form of slavery, and the lack of protection against gender-based violence and domestic violence, which constitute forms of inhuman and degrading treatment.

Even if, taken separately, the other measures do not constitute a sufficiently serious breach of a fundamental right to be classified as acts of persecution, the Court considers that, taken as a whole, those measures constitute such acts. Given that those measures have a cumulative effect and are applied deliberately and systematically, they blatantly deny fundamental rights related to human dignity.

Second, regarding the individual examination of an application for asylum of a woman of Afghan nationality, the Court takes into consideration the situation of women under the current Taliban regime as set out in, inter alia, the reports issued by the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Court finds that the competent authorities of the Member States are entitled to consider that it is unnecessary to establish that there is a risk that the applicant will actually and specifically be subject to acts of persecution if she returns to her country of origin. It is sufficient to take into account her nationality and gender alone.

This quote is taken from the press release. The full judgment is available as Joined Cases C-608/22 and C-609/22 Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl and Others (Afghan women).