CEDAW/C/75/D/108/2016 information that she provided has been neither substantiated nor rendered probable. Accordingly, the new information cannot lead to a different assessment of the case. 4.13 On the general situation in Somalia, the State party notes that, following the assessment of the author’s grounds for asylum and her general credibility, the Refugee Appeals Board found that it had not been rendered probable that the author had had a conflict with her uncle. The State party therefore finds that the author would not be without a male support network in Somalia. It also observes that it is for the author to render probable the grounds for asylum that she had relied on and that she has failed to meet that burden of proof. The State party cannot accept therefore that the author is a single woman with no male support network. 4.14 The State party adds that it finds that the general situation in Somalia is not of such a nature that any woman returning to that country risks abuse as defined under section 7 of the Aliens Act. The State party refers to a report of the United States Department of State, 9 in which it was noted that, while Al-Shabaab had reportedly lost control of many major cities and towns in the regions of central and southern Somalia, it still controlled some smaller towns and most rural areas, thereby limiting overall access by the Federal Government of Somalia and other actors to even the urban centres under government control. Furthermore, even in those cities that have been recovered by the African Union Military Observer Mission in Somalia or the Sudan National Armed Forces, the presence of Al-Shabaab was reported to remain significant at the urban periphery and in some parts of the cities. 10 4.15 The State party notes that the author claimed that, by failing to take into account her isolated life as an oppressed woman, the Refugee Appeals Board had failed to adopt a gender-sensitive approach in its decision, thereby demonstrating a lack of general knowledge of Somali patriarchal social norms. The State p arty also notes that, under general recommendation No. 19 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, gender-based violence is a form of discrimination, which impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamen tal freedoms, such as the right to life, the right to security of person and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The State party further notes that the Board could not accept as fact the autho r’s account of her grounds for asylum, including the claims that she was forcibly married to the father of a person whom her cousin had accidently killed and that she feared her uncle because she had run away from the man whom she had been forced to marry. The State party finds that, given those circumstances, the author would not be exposed to a real, personal and foreseeable risk of serious forms of gender-based violence or abuse by her family, the authorities or others in Somalia. 4.16 The State party notes that the decisions of the Refugee Appeals Board are based on an individual assessment of the asylum seeker, taking into account the relevant aspects of that person’s particular situation, such as cultural differences, age and health. 4.17 As to the author’s marks of torture and the claim that the Refugee Appeals Board had refused to initiate an examination of the author for such marks, the State party observes that, in cases in which torture is relied upon as an element of grounds for asylum, the Board may find it necessary to obtain additional information on torture before making a decision. It can request an examination for signs of torture. If the Board considers it as fact or a possibility that an asylum seeker had previously been subjected to torture, but finds that, upon assessment of that person’s specific situation, __________________ 9 10 6/9 United States of America, Department of State, 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Somalia (Washington, D.C., 2016). The State party also refers to: Danish Refugee Council, South and Central Somalia: Security Situation, al-Shabaab Presence, and Target Groups (Copenhagen, 2017). 20-05121