| Summary: | Includes bibliographical references. === The Qualification Directive intended to achieve the harmonization of the asylum determination procedures among European states. The Qualification Directive introduced minimum standards for the determination of asylum claims, aiming at equal outcomes in decision-making processes, especially on first instance levels. While all member states had to change their national legislation to comply with the provisions of this Directive, they were allowed to adopt more favorable legislation. However, after a period of four years and an assessment of the situation, it became clear that the Qualification Directive failed its goal at least partly, since imbalances in asylum determination processes still existed. These resulted in immense differences in recognition rates of same country nationals in European states, despite the goal of the concept to reach uniform standards. The cause was said to be insufficient guidance coming from the Qualification Directive for the decision-making authorities. Consequently, the European Commission adopted a recast Qualification Directive in 2011. It demanded national legislation to be adapted accordingly by the 21st of December 2013. The international refugee regime is governed by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter 1951 Convention). Being a party to that Convention is a prerequisite for joining the EU. Thus all European states are bound by the obligations arising from the 1951 Convention. Consequently, the recast Qualification Directive is “based on the full and inclusive application” of the 1951 Convention. Nonetheless, due to the development of international human rights law, in terms of the protection of women’s rights, it is evident that the 1951 Convention lacks sufficient clarification and guidance for asylum claims arising from women’s experiences of traditional harmful practices. Those harmful and discriminatory practices comprise for example forced marriage, female genital mutilation, domestic violence including rape, China’s one child policy and the risk of forced sterilization emerging in this context as well as in others, traditional dress codes, dowry burning or honor killings. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, since women might be subjected to several other norms, customs, rules or policies, which they try to escape from and base their asylum claims on. Asylum claims that deal with these forms of harm are often referred to as gender-related asylum claims. However, under the refugee definition of the 1951 Convention a specific ground of ‘gender’ or ‘sex’ is missing.
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