Article 10(1)(d) of Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and on the content of the protection granted, must be interpreted as meaning that:
based on the conditions existing in the country of origin, both women in that country as a whole and smaller groups of women sharing an additional common characteristic can be considered to belong to "a particular social group" as a "ground of persecution" that may lead to recognition of refugee status.
Article 9(3) of Directive 2011/95 must be interpreted as meaning that:
where an applicant alleges a fear of being persecuted in their country of origin by non-state actors, it is not necessary to establish a link between one of the grounds of persecution listed in Article 10(1) of that Directive and such acts of persecution, if such a link can be established between one of those grounds of persecution and the lack of protection against those acts by the actors providing protection, as referred to in Article 7(1) of that Directive.
Articles 15(a) and (b) of Directive 2011/95 must be interpreted as meaning that:
the notion of "serious harm" includes the actual threat, affecting the applicant, of being killed or subjected to acts of violence by a member of their family or community due to the alleged violation of cultural, religious, or traditional norms, and that this notion may therefore lead to recognition of subsidiary protection status under Article 2(g) of that Directive.
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