Islam and Shah v. Secretary of State for the Home Department
U.K. House of Lords
2 A.C. 629 (1999)
Islam and Shah (plaintiffs), two Pakistani women who had suffered domestic violence, sought asylum in the United Kingdom, arguing they faced persecution if returned to Pakistan given the country's widespread discrimination against women and the lack of legal recourse for domestic violence victims. Administrative officials (defendants) denied their asylum claims, and on appeal to the House of Lords, all five Law Lords rejected one prior legal test for defining a "particular social group" in favor of a different established test, with four of the five ultimately finding the women eligible for asylum.
Whether, for asylum purposes, an alien must show that discrimination was a critical element in the alien's persecution to establish that the persecution was "on account of" race, religion, or membership in a particular social group.