The next Deans’ Seminar in the 2022-23 series will be held this Friday, February 17, 2023. Christina Gerken, Professor of Women and Gender Studies, will present her research entitled “Trauma and Credible Storytelling: A Feminist Legal Analysis of Domestic Violence-Based Asylum Claims.”
We will meet at noon in the UCET Classroom (NS245). Feel free to bring your lunch. Soft drinks and water will be provided. If you would like to join by zoom please use this link: https://iu.zoom.us/j/93176192536
Abstract:
In 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions attempted to bar victims of non-state actors–such as intimate partners and local gangs–from obtaining asylum in the United States. This presentation focuses on domestic violence-based asylum claims that made it to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals during the Trump Administration and the first five months of the Biden Administration. My feminist legal analysis explores how judges evaluate the credibility of petitioners, determine whether domestic violence can rise to the level of persecution, and decide if a government was unwilling or unable to protect the victim. A systematic analysis of 83 appellate level verdicts shows that asylum decisions are fraught with inconsistencies and that many judges lack a sophisticated understanding of domestic violence, credibility, and trauma.