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8 - Mind the Gap

Particular Social Group and the Limits of Protection

from Part II - Exploring the Limits of Protection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2021

Janna Wessels
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
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Summary

Chapter 8 addresses the competing definitions of the Convention ground ‘particular social group’: the ‘protected characteristics’ approach and the ‘social perception' approach. Whereas both are capable of encompassing sexuality-based claims, they each hold the potential for ‘discretion’ reasoning in different ways. The ‘protected characteristics’ approach is designed to exclude ‘trivial’ claims. If claimants fear harm for what is considered a non-fundamental aspect, they can be returned to be ‘discreet’. The ‘social perception’ test in contrast, which would more appropriately be called the ‘persecutor’s perception’ approach, in principle precludes any a priori exclusion of certain particular social groups. In this approach, it is the persecutor who defines what is persecuted. Yet the chapter shows that even this broader approach is prone to ‘discretion’ logics: the limit that is reverted to is the ‘singling out’ requirement, providing protection only to those who are singled out for persecution whereas those deemed able to pass unnoticed can be returned. As such, in both approaches, the protected group is not the same as the persecuted group, such that those who are persecuted but not protected must remain ‘discreet’.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Concealment Controversy
Sexual Orientation, Discretion Reasoning and the Scope of Refugee Protection
, pp. 184 - 197
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Mind the Gap
  • Janna Wessels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: The Concealment Controversy
  • Online publication: 19 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108938402.011
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  • Mind the Gap
  • Janna Wessels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: The Concealment Controversy
  • Online publication: 19 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108938402.011
Available formats
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mind the Gap
  • Janna Wessels, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • Book: The Concealment Controversy
  • Online publication: 19 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108938402.011
Available formats
×