Castro-Perez

BACKGROUND

During late 1998 to 1999, Castro-Perez, then a 17-year-old living in Honduras, was dating a young man named Marlo Scott Hernandez, who was a member of a powerful local criminal gang. In October 1998, Hernandez raped Castro- Perez. She did not report the rape to the police because she believed the police would not investigate a date rape, and because she was afraid of how her father would react. She continued to see Hernandez, feeling obligated to do so and fearing that she could never marry another man because she was no longer a virgin. CASTRO-PEREZ v. GONZALES 5941 Hernandez raped Castro-Perez again and she became preg- nant. She did not report that rape either. Instead, she fled to the United States in June 1999 intending to live with her sis- ter, who was residing in Colorado. Castro-Perez was appre- hended while entering the United States from Mexico and detained. She was released into the custody of her sister, and while in the United States gave birth to a baby boy in January 2000.

On March 15, 2001, Castro-Perez filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Conven- tion Against Torture. At her hearing she…