SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A federal appeals court says a transgender woman who fled El Salvador at age 17 after being kidnapped and raped should have another chance to avoid deportation.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Luis Reyes-Reyes, now 42, can remain in the Los Angeles area if she can prove to immigration officials she would be subjected to anti-gay bullying if deported.

A unanimous three-judge panel said a deportation panel erroneously demanded Reyes to show she would be tortured by the Salvadoran government. The San Francisco-based appeals court said federal laws prohibit deportation if a foreign government tacitly approves of privately inflicted torture.

The appeals court said El Salvador’s national police had been involved in hitting, threatening and insulting men with female sexual identities. Reyes, of San Salvador, is a cross dresser and has not had a sex-change operation.

At 13, she said a group of men kidnapped, raped and beat her for her female behavior, and threatened more punishment. She fled to the United States four years later, and managed to avoid being detected as an illegal immigrant for 25 years.

She was ordered for deportation in 2002.

A panel of immigration judges must now decide whether the Salvadoran government condoned or willfully ignored the abuse, or whether the woman was likely to be abused again if returned to her native country. Federal law prohibits the deportation of people to countries where they are likely to be tortured.