For the first time, the highest U.S. immigration court ruled that a woman from Guatemala, Aminta Cifuentes, had the right to asylum based on severe domestic violence.

The ruling could open doors for women in Guatemala who fear for their lives because of unpunished domestic violence. It could also give more solid ground in cases of those who have been fleeing violence throughout Central America. 

Asylum seekers in the U.S. are eligible if fleeing persecution by race, nationality, religion, political opinion or social affiliation, but not if fleeing criminal acts. Advocates argued that women faced persecution in countries that refused to bring abusers to justice and did not recognize domestic abuse as a crime. 

It took nearly a decade for Cifuentes to be granted asylum under the new ruling. She was repeatedly abused by her husband, ignored by police and hunted down when she tried to flee within the Guatemalan borders. Only when she fled with her children to Missouri did she escape the abuse.