Gender, Culture and Epistemic Injustice: The Institutional Logic in Assessment of Asylum Applications in Sweden

Abstract

Analysing the Swedish Migration authorities’ assessment of asylum applications, the article examines how discretionary space is used concerning gender, culture and the possibility of protection in the country of origin. Gendered victims of both sexes are disregarded. Although the verdicts depend on applicants’ narratives, the scope of applicants’ narrative authority is very limited, and resistance is silenced in favour of authorities’ predominant views of culture. Country information is used to sustain one-dimensional views of culture and to exaggerate the possibility of protection in the country of origin, which denies gender-based claims for protection in the asylum country.