Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr

Rosario Del Carmen Hernandez-Chacon (defendant) came to the United States seeking asylum after gang members attempted to attack and rape her twice in her native El Salvador. Hernandez-Chacon was first attacked by a man at her home one night. She managed to lock herself in a room to get away from him. Three days later, as she was walking with her daughters, the same man, plus two more, attacked her, beating her up and breaking her collarbone. Hernandez-Chacon’s partner was already living in the United States, and he suggested she travel there for her safety. She did so and filed a petition to remain under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. She also sought asylum status based in part on her political opinion. Hernandez-Chacon presented evidence that El Salvador’s people and government were heavily discriminatory against women, including by preventing them from accessing legal help, and that her resistance to her attackers reflected her political stance against that system. The immigration judge (IJ) admitted evidence that El Salvador had one of the highest rates of violence against women in the world but denied Hernandez-Chacon’s request for asylum on the grounds that she was merely attempting to prevent herself from becoming a rape victim, not expressing a political opinion for which she would be persecuted. Hernandez-Chacon appealed the denial of her request for asylum status, arguing that the IJ should have accepted her political-opinion argument because she was likely to be persecuted by El Salvadorian gang members if she returned due to her decision to take a stance against a culture that supported the brutal treatment of women.