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Date: 07-09-1999
Case Style: Adelaide Abankwah v. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Case Number: 98-4304
Judge: Donn Livingston
Court: Board of Immigration
Plaintiff's Attorney: Jon W. Rauchway of New York, New York and David R. Jewell and Dennis M. LaRochelle of Orick, Herrington, and Sutcliff LLP, New York, New York.
Defendant's Attorney: Meredith E. Kotler Assiatant United States Attorney, New York, New York; Mary Jo White United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Diogenes P. Kekatos and Steven M. Haber, Assistant United States Attorneys on the brief.
Description: Immigration and Naturalization Service - Aliens - Female Genital Mutilation - Asylum - Abankwah is a twenty-nine year old native of Ghana and a member of the Nkumssa tribe, which is located in the central region of Ghana. The Nkumssa tribe condemns women who engage in premarital sex and punishes them through Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Abankwah testified that her mother had held the position of Queen Mother within the Nkumssa tribe. Abankwah testifies that when her mother died, she was informed by her grandmother that because she was the eldest daughter, she would be designated Queen Mother. Nkumssa tradition requires that the girl or woman next in line for the position of Queen Mother must remain a virgin until she is "enstooled". During the "enstooling" process the woman must undergo certain "tests" to determine if her virginity is in tact. Even if these "tests" are passed it will be ultimately up to the husband, who is chosen for the woman by the tribal elders, to decide if his wife is a virgin or not. If in either case she is determined to be not a virgin, she will be forced to undergo FMG. Although as a girl Abankwah accepted the Nkumssa god and rituals, she was introduced to Christianity at school and chose to convert. She decided at that point to not follow the Nkumssa proscriptions. While at school, she fell in love with a man from her tribe, and commenced a sexual relationship with him. When she learned that she would become Queen Mother, she knew that her lack of virginity would cause her to be punished with FMG. She fled to the capital of Accra to live with a family friend. After about five weeks of working in Accra, her employers accused her of stealing and notified her whereabouts to the Nkumssa tribe. They came to Accra in search of Abankwah. At this point she decided it was unsafe to remain in Ghana and so obtained a falsified Ghanaian passport and United States visa, and fled to the U.S. She was apprehended at John F. Kennedy Airport and the INS initiated deportation proceedings against her. She sought asylum in The United States on the grounds that if she returned to Ghana she would be forced to undergo FMG as a consequence of having engaged in premarital sex. She testified to this before an Immigration Judge on September 9, 1997. On October 1, 1997, Victoria Otumfuor testified in support of Abankwah's asylum application. After reviewing the application and other information about Abankwah and FMG, On October 8, 1997, Immigration Judge Donn Livingston denied Abankwah's request for asylum and withholding of deportation. The IJ concluded that she had failed to establish that her fear of FGM AS PUNISMENT FOR HER LACK OF VIRGINITY WAS OBJECTIVLY REASONABLE. The IJ noted the FMG is practiced mostly in northern Ghana and is on the decline. FMG was criminalized in Ghana in 1994, and the court suggested that Abankwah would be able to seek protection form the Ghanaian government. They described Abankwah's' situation as a "personal problem" rather than a "matter of general practice imposed upon a particular social group".
Outcome: Petitioner was denied asylum in the United Sates. According to the court, she failed to establish that her fear of FGM was objectively reasonable, and that her's was a
Plaintiff's Experts: None
Defendant's Experts: None
Comments: The decision was reversed and remanded by the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. See: 185 F.3d 18 (2nd Cir. 1999). The date above reflects the appelate court decision and not the date of the original trial. Reported by EMDH.