Opinion: Forensic medical examinations are key to helping asylum seekers prove trauma
After a decade of horrific abuse by her husband, Ms. A. felt she had no choice but to flee with her children to the United States, where she was greeted with a complex, multi-stage asylum process that required her to prove that her trauma amounted to persecution. In a system in which only a minority of applicants prevail, a forensic medical evaluation helped Ms. A. attain asylum.
Her husband’s punches had led to multiple miscarriages, and his frequent and severe blows to her head and face left her with dizzying headaches and blurred vision. But because her husband was deeply entangled with local law enforcement, Ms. A. fled because she had no legal or societal protection in her country of origin.
