Two women fleeing domestic violence sought asylum in Canada. The system treated them very differently

This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.

WARNING: This article contains details of intimate partner violence and sexual abuse and may affect those who have experienced it or know someone affected by it.

This is a tale of two women seeking asylum in Canada.

Both are mothers who fled their homeland with their children due to gender-based violence. Both crossed the border into Canada from the U.S. irregularly. Both have ample documentation to back up their claims. Both asked for this country's protection. 

One was welcomed and is building a new life in Canada with her children. The other has been ordered out of the country three times and has been living, with her children, under the threat of deportation for years. It remains uncertain whether she and her family will be allowed to stay.

Gender-based violence is one of the top reasons refugees seek asylum in Canada. 

A CBC analysis of data on decisions by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada's Refugee Protection Division, obtained through an Access to Information request, reveals it was a factor in nearly 40,000 cases decided between Jan. 1, 2018, and March 31, 2024. 

CBC's analysis also revealed big differences in the outcomes of domestic violence claims from different countries.

According to that IRB data, asylum seekers fleeing domestic violence were most likely to come from Nigeria, but Nigerians were among the least likely to have their claims accepted. Just over half (58 per cent) of Nigerian claims that included domestic violence were accepted, compared with 98 per cent from Iran and 94 per cent from Turkey.

That's if those fleeing domestic violence are allowed to make a refugee claim in Canada at all.

Emily Owie is one of the people who did not even get that chance.

Owie, 46, was married to a successful businessman in Benin City, Nigeria. The couple had four children and she ran his vehicle parts business and pub when he was travelling out of the country.

Four years later, when Owie was 12 weeks pregnant, she was abducted again. This time, she was getting out of her car at a supermarket when she says armed men forced her into their Range Rover. They blindfolded her and took her to the woods beside a river, where she says she was beaten and sexually assaulted.

While she was being held, Owie overheard the men mention the name of her former partner, a police officer, on a phone call discussing her ransom. It was then, Owie says, that she realized why she was being targeted.