Protecting Lives Giving Challenge Raises over $50,000
In May, Tahirih held our second annual Protecting Lives Giving Challenge. Pro bono attorneys, law firms, and staff responded to heart-wrenching stories of Tahirih’s clients, sobering accounts of the costs associated with each case, and inspiring tales of the changing landscape of gender-based asylum. This group of dedicated advocates generously gave more than their time and helped us exceeded our goal and raise $51,057 to protect the lives of women and girls fleeing violence!
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP won the giving total of the challenge by raising $12,340, while Dow Lohnes PLLC won with the most participants with 95 individuals making donations to the campaign. Lexis Nexis provided overall support to the structure of the campaign and awarded $10,000 in honor of the winning firms. Congratulations to our winners, and very special thanks to Lexis Nexis for their generous contribution and involvement!
The 2010 Protecting Lives Giving Challenge focused on the Tahirih Justice Center’s gender-based asylum initiative. The cases of women and children fleeing violence in their home countries are some of Tahirih’s most challenging and expensive endeavors. In recent years a series of legal precedent and policy decisions have undone progress in gender-based asylum law. These decisions have further limited the ability of women to receive asylum based on forms of gender persecution including female genital mutilation and domestic violence. If clients are denied asylum and forced to return to their native countries, our clients face certain violence, and in some cases, death.
The funds raised by the Protecting Lives Giving Challenge will aid Tahirih in protecting the lives of immigrant women and girls through representing their legal cases and raising their voices to national public policy debates. Tahirih thanks all of our generous supporters for helping us save lives!
This article is a part of Tahirih’s December 2010 Newsletter.
