The general standard for asylum is that the asylee proves that he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of his or her race, religion, ethnicity, political opinion or "membership in a particular social group". That last "social group" thing is what is being applied to DV victims at this point. In some cases, the "social group" is being defined as something like "salvadoran women who cannot leave a domestic relationship due to surrounding conditions". This law is set by judges, not statutes, so it's very fuzzy even to lawyers. Secondly, although persecution generally has to be done by the government, there is an exception where the government is "unable or unwilling" to control the people that would be inflicting the harm upon the asylum seeker. This part can be pretty straightforward in DV cases because many countries (including our own, but that's another conversation) fail to adequately protect victims of domestic violence.

MY REPLY: Your explanation is very useful, StephanieFisher, thank you for your reply. I am currently in Guatemala for the next 3 months, so I may not reply as quickly as I wish. But I plan on gettng on the forum whenever possible. Thanks again for your explanation. I hope my friend will win her case. I hope the Judge considers her in the category of being a woman who was unable to leave a domestic relationship due to surrounding conditions, or because the government failed to impose severe penalties to the abuser. But like you said, the Judge will determine that. We can only hope for the best.
Thanks again.