Agents and victims

This study concerns both the agents and victims of persecution. It addresses questions of key importance to today's refugee law. Non-governmental and gender-related persecution tops all national, international and European political agendas. It is one of the most controversially discussed topics in the process of the European harmonisation of refugee law. How should the international community react to individual threats imposed, not directly by the State, but rather by office bearers, quasi-State authorities, private agents and even family members? Is refugee law a sufficient tool to protect women and homosexuals from gender-related persecution? The discussion is anchored in the spheres of both morality and law and is currently more topical than ever before. In this publication, the Association for the Study of the World Refugee Problem (AWR) presents the results of international, multidisciplinary research on non-governmental and gender-related persecution. It introduces different approaches before continuing to highlight the answers currently derivable from international and European law. Against this background the laws and politics of various countries, including Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom are illustrated in separate chapters. This study may not produce a definite answer to its subject - yet thorough it AWR has managed to collect, introduce and interpret the necessary background information for any parties concerned with finding equitable solutions.