American Asylum for Abused Women

After 13 years of red tape, foreign women who face violence from their husbands will now be officially protected: The Obama administration is moving to allow victims of domestic abuse to receive asylum in the U.S. But in order to gain asylum, they'll need to prove that they suffer from chronic abuse, are treated as subordinate to their abuser, and that they cannot find protection at home. The long policy battle stems from the 1996 case of a Guatemalan woman named Rody Alvarado, who was beaten by her husband, and granted an asylum in the U.S. that was then revoked.