The Times explains:

After 14 years of legal indecision, during which several immigration courts and three attorneys general considered Ms. Alvarado's case, the Department of Homeland Security cleared the way for her in a one-paragraph document filed late Wednesday in immigration court in San Francisco. Ms. Alvarado, the department found, "is eligible for asylum and merits a grant of asylum as a matter of discretion."

One of the issues at play in the case was about how we define persecution:

The large legal question in the case is whether women who suffer domestic abuse are part of a "particular social group" that has faced persecution, one criteria for asylum claims. In a separate asylum case in April, the Department of Homeland Security pointed to some specific ways that battered women could meet this standard.

In a recent filing, Ms. Alvarado's lawyers argued that her circumstances met the requirements that the department had outlined in April. Now the department has agreed, in practice making the case a model for other asylum claims.

However, Alvarado was able to strengthen her case by pointing to the environment facing women in Guatemala:

In a declaration filed recently to bolster Ms. Alvarado's argument that she was part of a persecuted group in Guatemala, an expert witness, Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey, reported that more than 4,000 women had been killed in domestic violence there in the last decade. These killings, only 2 percent of which have been solved, were so frequent that they earned their own legal term, "femicide," said Ms. Paz y Paz Bailey, a Guatemalan lawyer. In 2004 Guatemala enacted a law establishing special sanctions for the crime.

"Many times," she said, violence against Guatemalan women "is not even identified as violence, is not perceived as strange or unusual."

Opening up claims for asylum to situations like domestic violence and femicide would be a huge boon to women in conflict situations around the world. In addition to providing a path for women to exit a country when the local authorities fails to rectify widespread violence against women (like the situations in Juarez, Mexico and Guatemala City), it also increases the chances for females fleeing violent situations to be able to make a complete break with their pasts and start over.

Though the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department warn that they will look at domestic violence claims on a case by case basis, it's still a major step forward.

U.S. May Be Open To Asylum For Spouse Abuse [NY Times]
In Ciudad Juarez, Young Women Are Vanishing [LA Times]
The Price Of Life [Guernica]

Earlier: Obama Adminstration Opening Doors For Women Fleeing Abuse

Yesterday afternoon, the Oscar-winning actress took to Congress to lobby for the International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA). Representing UNIFEM, she aimed her testimony at women who need the world's support while standing up against atrocities:

I learned from Marie that she was a survivor of violence, forced by her father into an abusive marriage as a young adult. She fled after her first pregnancy, and found support to further her education through a religious organization. Confronted with the cruel impact on women and girls from the continuing conflict in the DRC-where rape is used systematically as a tactic of war-Marie took action. She started an organization to help victims of violence, mostly widows and orphans, many affected by HIV/AIDS. Over the years she's built a national network of NGOs to care for survivors and empower women. With the Trust Fund grant, her group expanded services to include medical care, counseling, legal and economic support. Marie fully understands the need for a comprehensive approach.

Another time in Kosovo, I met and listened to women sharing experiences. One told me how she had been repeatedly raped and abused by soldiers leaving her with lasting physical and psychological scars, and pregnant. In her community, this child brands her forever as an outcast. Yet, she did not remain silent. Together with other women's rights advocates, she bravely took her testimony of how mass rapes shatter lives and communities to the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia, a legal landmark for prosecuting rape in wartime as a crime against humanity. These champions need and deserve our support. Not with a box of band aids, but with a comprehensive well-funded approach that acknowledges that women's rights are human rights.

It is time for policies that intentionally involve society's key communities-from health and education departments, to the police and judiciary-to deliver on that commitment. The plan must build strong alliances with men and collaborate with faith-based and traditional leaders. To succeed, it requires political will at the highest levels.

In addition to speaking on international current events, Kidman candidly answered a question posed about Hollywood.

Nicole Kidman conceded Wednesday that Hollywood has probably contributed to violence against women by portraying them as weak sex objects.

The Oscar-winning actress said she is not interested in those kinds of demeaning roles, adding that the movie industry also has made an effort to contribute to solutions for ending the violence.

Indeed, Kidman has set an example in the industry with the roles she accepts, portraying a long line of interesting women. She's stepped into the skin of Virigina Woolf in The Hours, a good woman with a hard secret in Dogville, an unapologetic career woman in The Stepford Wives, and the wicked Mrs. Coulter in The Golden Compass. Her upcoming roles, including that of a glamorous movie star in the musical Nine, show more of Kidman's talents, with nary a hooker, victim, or doormat in sight.

"International Violence Against Women: Stories And Solutions" (PDF) [House Committee on Foreign Affairs]
International Violence Against Women Act [Amnesty International USA]
Kidman: Hollywood Probably Contributes To Violence [AP]

[Freetown, Sierra Leone; September 22. Image via Getty]

Amnesty Secretary General International Bangladeshi-born Iren Khan (C) talks to a woman lying on a bed after she paid a visit to a hospital on September 22, 2009 in Freetown. Irene Khan, will lead a high level mission in Sierra Leone from 18 to 25 September 2009 to launch a campaign to reduce maternal deaths in the country, which has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images)

[Freetown, Sierra Leone; September 21. Image via Getty]

An aunt of a nine-month-old Maya (R), whose mother died in a taxi at the hospital parking shortly before giving birth reads a document of Amnesty International on September 21, 2009 in Freetown. Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty international will lead a high level mission in Sierra Leone from 18 to 25 September 2009 to launch a campaign to reduce maternal deaths in the country, which has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world. AFP PHOTO / ISSOUF SANOGO (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images)

[Manila, August 30. Image via Getty]

Protesters tie ribbons and ring bells during a rally near the Malacanang Palace in Manila on August 30, 2009. The protesters gathered to commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared. Amnesty International said on August 25 that government forces and Muslim separatists were both guilty of the murder and torture of civilians caught up in a long-running rebellion in the southern Philippines. AFP PHOTO / JUNIE DOCTOR (Photo credit should read JUNIE DOCTOR/AFP/Getty Images)

Related: The Countertraffickers [New Yorker]