Reading Comprehension

PT110 · S1 · P4 · Q26 Women Refugees

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

When women are persecuted on account of their gender, they are likely to be eligible for asylum.

Topic

Eligibility of women facing gender-based persecution for refugee status under international law.

Framework

Answer / Explain

Main Point

Women persecuted for their gender can qualify for asylum as part of the "social group" category in the UN's refugee definition, and this broad, flexible category was intentionally created to ensure such individuals are protected. The Most Valuable Sentence:—the end of paragraph 1:

P1: Establishing the Central Question and Position

Sets up the issue: gender is not explicitly listed in the refugee definition, but women suffering gender-based persecution do qualify under “social group.” The history of the definition shows that “social group” was designed as a catch-all for those otherwise left out.

P2: Historical Background on the “Social Group” Category

Explains where the "social group" category came from. The original refugee definition didn’t include it—the United Nations later added it as a flexible category to cover cases not neatly fitting the more specific criteria.

P3: Supporting the Broad Interpretation of Social Group

The UN’s Handbook and subsequent documents promote a broad, inclusive understanding of “social group.” This supports the idea that women fleeing gender-based persecution should qualify for asylum, especially since UN documents specifically encourage using this category for women in such situations.

26.

The primary purpose of the passage is to

  1. Correct

    trace the development of the

    Why this is right

    The important term we're alluding to is "refugee", it seems. But in terms of the author tracing the development of the definition of the term refugee, he is specifically interested in covering how the definition of refugee evolved to include the category social group. The author begins in the present -- persecuted women presents are likely to be eligible for asylum, and this is because the term refugee has developed to include, within its definition, people who are persecuted because they belong to a social group that has similar background, habits or social status. On first read, this answer seems to maybe over-emphasize the chronological story behind this passage. Yes, if we thought of this passage as Old / New, then "trace the development" would seem pretty appealing, but there's very little discussion of the Old. Almost all of it is about the New. However, the final sentence of the first paragraph (the #1 place to find a thesis) is actually emphasizing the development of a definition: The history of the inclusion of the social-group category in the definition of a refugee indicates that it was intended to cover groups such as women. Ultimately, even if this answer seems to be slightly wrong in its emphasis, it's saying something true that was definitely a big part of the passage's purpose, so this answer still wins as best available.

    Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    85% picked this

  2. interpret the historical circumstances leading

    Out of Scope: interpret circumstances

    The only history we really get is that the constitution of the International Refugee Organization never talked about "social group". Could we call that one sentence, the historical circumstances that led to the development of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as well as what led to the development of the UNHCR's Handbook? No, it's weird to call a pre-existing document "the historical circumstances". This answer sounds like it's describing a passage in which we hear that the IRO had its constitution (which didn't cover social groups), and then women were being persecuted and yet were unable to attain asylum because they weren't recognized under any definition of refugee. And thus, these two other documents were written in reaction to those historical circumstances. But we never hear anything about the historical circumstances that led to the Convention or to the Handbook. The author only talks about the intent of the people who wrote these documents. It's pretty fair to say the passage "interprets the statutory intent of two documents", because the author is telling us that the drafters of these documents intended social group to be a malleable category that would cover future, unanticipated categories of people who deserved asylum but otherwise didn't fit the definition of refugee.

    9% picked this

  3. resolve two apparently contradictory interpretations

    Out of Scope: contradictory

    There's nothing in the passage that suggests any contradictory interpretations of a legal document, whether it's the Convention or the Handbook. "Contradictory" is an extremely loaded idea that is almost always wrong on LSAT.

    2% picked this

  4. suggest an alternative solution to

    Out of Scope: suggest solution

    The author never suggests any solution. To the extent that there was a problem, it would have been back when the IRO's constitution was our only definition of refugee, and the problem would have been "there's no way to call people persecuted because of gender a refugee!" We have no support for the idea that this was a much-disputed problem. And the author never suggests any solution. The UN found its own solution by adding the category of "social group".

    2% picked this

  5. argue against the current definition

    Out of Scope: argue against

    This seems opposite, if anything. The author isn't fighting the current definition of refugee, which includes "social group", which protects women persecuted on the basis of gender. The author seems pleased that refugee has this expanded definition and that the international community will likely be influenced by this expanded definition.

    2% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free