Contact: Anne Paschke, Development and Communications Associate, justice@tahirih.org

Executive Director of the Tahirih Justice Center recognized as one of Greater Washington’s top female leaders.

FALLS CHURCH, VA—July 20, 2010. The Tahirih Justice Center announced today that its Executive Director, Layli Miller-Muro, will be recognized as one of Greater Washington’s top female leaders with a Washington SmartCEO 2010 BRAVA! Women Business Achievement Award. This award recognizes twenty-five female executives who are exemplary leaders within their companies and communities at large. SmartCEO describes these women as individuals who are “encouraging their staffs and peers to become more involved in giving back to those in need, mentoring fellow leaders, and strategically setting up their organizations for tremendous growth and success.”

Layli Miller-Muro is honored to receive the award, stating, “The women receiving 2010 BRAVA! Awards are a truly accomplished group and I am honored to be counted among their number.”

The BRAVA! winners are profiled in the July issue of SmartCEO, which is read by more than 30,000 business owners in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan area. Each winner is also featured in the digital edition of the magazine. The winners are selected by an independent panel of business leaders.

“BRAVA! Women Business Achievement award recipients are not only selected and honored for their success in growing a company, but also for demonstrating leadership throughout the Greater Washington community. This unique combination of attributes is fit to be admired by any CEO. We are honored to recognize Layli Miller-Muro as one of Greater Washington’s most influential leaders,” said Jaime Park, publisher of Washington SmartCEO.

The twenty-five award recipients of the fourth annual BRAVA! Awards will celebrate at SmartCEO’s BRAVA! Awards event on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, from 6:00-8:30 pm at The Sphinx Club at Franklin Square, 1315 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20005.

SmartCEO magazine is a regional publication specifically designed to deliver innovative ideas, guiding advice and forward-thinking insight about the daily challenges of running a “growing company.” SmartCEO believes that a growing company is determined by the spirit, drive and dynamics of a company’s owners and managers, rather than by the size of its building, the number of its employees, or its sales volume. Each month more than 30,000 business leaders in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan markets turn to the pages of SmartCEO for features, case-study advice and trend analysis, all with a uniquely local flavor.

For a complete list of BRAVA! winners visit www.smartceo.com

I am daily moved by the strength and the sacrifices that our clients make for their children. Their courage and perseverance gives us hope and inspiration to fight for justice. Sadly, not all mothers fleeing violence are as fortunate as the ones who have made it to the US, or as those whom we’ve been honored to help protect. We need your help to achieve justice for so many others who call us for help.

This Mother’s Day, give mom a gift that protects an immigrant woman or girl from violence. Share “Ebuni’s” story of fleeing Guinea because she could not let her daughters endure the same suffering she did. Make a unique and life-changing gift in honor of women and girls like Ebuni and we will send an e-card to that special mom telling her about your thoughtful gift.

Thank you for your love and support,

Layli Miller-Muro
Executive Director

Khalida married her husband Asad in Pakistan through an arrangement made by their families. (Their names are changed here to protect Khalida.) She finished medical school and began her residency a month after she was married. Her husband was immediately abusive and jealous: He restricted Khalida’s movement and forced her to be accompanied wherever she went, including to work. When she had to stay at the hospital for 24–hour emergency duty, her husband accused her of staying out just to attract men and to dishonor the family. He raped her repeatedly, and when she miscarried her first pregnancy, he slapped her and blamed her work at the hospital. Khalida eventually quit her job, but even after the birth of her two children the brutal abuse continued, along with blame for bearing daughters instead of sons. After trying for years to escape, she finally made it with her children to the United States with the help of brothers who were already here. To this day, Asad and his family do not accept that the marriage is over and threaten to harm Khalida if she ever returns to Pakistan.

The Tahirih Justice Center recently opened its doors in Houston to help women like Khalida, the very few who are fortunate enough to escape violence and have the means to make it to safety in the United States. While Tahirih provides some of the services that help Khalida and others like her build safe futures for themselves and their children, many of her sisters around the world remain trapped in desperate situations. Solutions for them have to be found closer to home.

One out of every three women worldwide is physically, sexually or otherwise abused during her lifetime, and in some countries that rate is as high as 70 percent. The nature and scale of the violence women suffer is horrifying: from pervasive domestic violence to rape (including as a tool of war), to widespread sex trafficking and girls being forced to trade sex for food. Violence devastates the lives of millions of women and girls and knows no national or cultural barriers. Violence also keeps women poor. Women are the majority of those living on $1 a day or less worldwide, and the cruel cycle continues: Violence prevents them from getting an education or working, and their poverty keeps them dependent, preventing them from leaving abusive situations.

Now the good news: We can and must stop this violence, and there are thousands of local organizations like Tahirih around the world that are doing just that. They are running shelters, offering help and support, training and educating women so that they can be self-sufficient, fighting to change cultural attitudes that treat violence as normal, and pushing for legal reform so women’s basic rights will be taken seriously by local courts. Every country and culture is different, and these organizations know best how to serve women in their communities.

There are promising signs that our country is beginning to support these worthy local initiatives. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been a forceful advocate for women worldwide, raising the profile of this issue everywhere, from her visit last year with women raped during the conflict in the Congo to her remarks pointing out gender inequality in Yemen at the Davos Economic Forum in January.

And at a time of seeming partisan dysfunction in Washington, a groundbreaking, bipartisan International Violence Against Women Act, or I-VAWA, was introduced in both the Senate and the House in early February. The bill comprehensively addresses, for the first time, violence against women and girls through all relevant U.S. foreign policy efforts, including its international assistance programs. U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, is the lead Republican sponsor in the House, working across the aisle with Rep. Bill Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and many others.

Support from the American public is also strong. A 2009 poll found that 61 percent of voters across demographic and political lines thought global violence against women should be one of the top international priorities for the U.S. government, and after learning more about it, 82 percent supported the I-VAWA. The I-VAWA would support wide-ranging local efforts to end violence against women and girls in up to 20 countries. It would make ending violence against women a diplomatic priority for the first time in U.S. history and would ask the U.S. government to respond to outbreaks of gender-based violence in conflict situations within six months.

If passed, it could truly be a life-changing force for millions of women like Khalida in countries around the world, helping them get a second chance for themselves and ensuring a better future for their children.

Chandler is Houston director for the Tahirih Justice Center, which provides free legal services to immigrant women and girls fleeing violence; Sharma, a leading advocate for the passage of I-VAWA, is co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide in Washington, D.C., which pushes for U.S. policies that support women living in poverty around the world.

This op-ed appeared on April 17, 2010, in the Houston Chronicle.

Sandra,* for example, is a 36-year-old college-educated wife and mother. She came to the United States and married her husband, Jinan, in 2000. At that time, Jinan told her he was a US citizen and that she would be eligible to become a citizen if they married. She quickly learned that he was not a citizen, but here initially on an employment visa. Jinan never pursued legal immigration status for Sandra as he promised. Instead, for nine years she endured physical and emotional abuse at his hands. During that time they had a child, and Sandra wanted to leave to protect her child as well as herself. While she was afraid of the physical harm he would cause if she left, she was more afraid of his other threats and lies. Jinan repeatedly threatened to take their child from her and call immigration authorities to have her deported. He would tell her that even if she wasn’t deported, the judge would not give her custody because she was here illegally. He even convinced her that if she filed for divorce he would ask the judge to enter an order barring her from any future marriages and that the judge would enter such a ruling.

During our initial intake with Sandra, we learned that she feared losing her child – a fear shared by many of our clients. Sandra came to us because she believed that the only way to truly protect her child was to obtain legal immigration status. At the same time, Sandra began working with our family law program to obtain custody of her son.

Sandra is not alone. Many clients report similar threats from spouses. The fears go beyond what our clients are told by their abuser. Many clients’ fears are based on what they’ve seen or heard from other immigrants’ experiences. Another client, Maria, insisted on remaining in the home with her abusive spouse until she received work authorization. Unable to work and with nowhere else to turn, Maria knew her only option for leaving would be to go to a shelter. Maria feared that if she fled to a shelter she would lose custody of her child simply because she was residing in a shelter. Maria knew a woman from her church that went through a similar experience and was convinced the same would happen to her. Upon further inquiry, we learned that Maria’s acquaintance from church didn’t speak English, while her husband did, and wasn’t represented at the custody hearing, while her husband was. Maria worked with Tahirih’s social services program to develop a safety plan while she remained in the home with her abusive spouse. Maria also worked with Tahirih’s family law program to seek advice on filing for divorce and custody. Despite reassurances from our family law attorney that she would not lose custody of her son if she relocated to a shelter, Maria refused to move. Tahirih helped Maria obtain work authorization, and she is now saving money to move to an apartment with her son.

Sandra’s and Maria’s stories represent just a small portion of the unique and complex challenges facing immigrant women and girls fleeing violence. Tahirih’s family law and social services programs help our clients meet a vast range of obstacles, as we simultaneously work on their immigration cases to fully protect them from violence. In addition, Tahirih engages in significant outreach to both immigrant community organizations and local government agencies to raise awareness of the needs and rights of immigrant women and girls fleeing violence. Finally, we work with several local organizations and pro bono attorneys to help our clients with other legal needs such as criminal, housing, employment and international abduction cases.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy. Photo by Sergio Pessolano.

Contact: Layli Miller-Muro, Executive Director, (571) 282-6161, justice@tahirih.org

Falls Church, VA—March 18, 2010. The Tahirih Justice Center praises last night’s episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (“Witness”), which brought to light obstacles faced by women fleeing violence who seek protection under US law. Sam Waterston, who plays District Attorney “Jack McCoy” on Law & Order, was the keynote speaker at the Tahirih Justice Center’s 2009 Annual Benefit and featured guest at Tahirih’s September 2009 Congressional Briefing on gender-based asylum.

The episode featured a woman from the Congo who shared her story of being gang-raped by a militia in the dead of night, then watching them each rape her five-year-old daughter. Six days later, her daughter died and her husband returned home to throw her out for causing shame to the family. She fled to the United States and stayed, undocumented, for two years, at which point she became a material witness to the rape of an American woman. The episode culminated with a focus on her as the star witness of the rape trial.

The episode highlighted the fact that women who flee brutal human rights abuses in their home countries face many obstacles to receiving safe haven in the United States. While the law has begun to recognize that violence against women can be a basis for asylum, the lack of clear guidance in law and regulation leaves many women without protection. For women fleeing rape as a tool of war, severe and sustained domestic violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, “honor” crimes, human trafficking or other forms of gender-based violence, their ability to receive protection in the US is not certain. Women asylum-seekers are also harshly impacted by a legal requirement that applicants file for refugee status within one year of their arrival in the US. Many women, like the woman in this Law & Order episode, struggle to survive in a strange new country, still reeling from the after-effects of the trauma they endured, silenced by powerful feelings of shame and taboo, afraid they will be imprisoned if they present themselves to authorities, and uncertain (for good reason) that they will receive protection if they step forward. For more information on the obstacles faced by women fleeing gender-based violence who seek protection in the United States, please see Tahirih’s report, “Precarious Protection.”

Also highlighted in the show was the availability of the U visa for certain victims and witnesses of crime. Too often undocumented immigrants do not come forward to report crimes and assist police with prosecutions because they fear it will result in their deportation. The anti-immigrant climate in the US and the increasing numbers of local police deputized to enforce immigration law heighten those fears. Although the U visa was established in 2000, regulations were delayed for years and approvals only began in 2009. Still, few victims are aware of its existence, and law enforcement is only gradually recognizing the visa’s availability. For more information on U visas, see Tahirih’s news release highlighting our first clients to receive approvals and a FBI Bulletin article authored by a Tahirih staff attorney and local law enforcement detective.

The Tahirih Justice Center praises Law & Order actors, writers, and producers, including SVU executive producer Neal Baer and writer Dawn DeNoon, for drawing consistent and careful attention to the horrific abuse of women throughout the world and for responsibly portraying the legal hurdles hindering their protection. Episodes like the one that aired last night are powerful platforms for educating the public and policymakers, and Tahirih is deeply grateful to the show for leveraging that platform to help the courageous women and girls we represent.

Through direct legal services, public policy advocacy, and education, the Tahirih Justice Center works to protect immigrant women and girls seeking justice in the United States from gender-based violence.

Since 2007, Amy has generously supported Tahirih by donating 40% of the sales of her exquisite jewelry during Tahirih’s “Pearls to Support Women and Girls” events. These most recent sales were a resounding success and raised nearly $12,000 to protect women and girls fleeing violence.

The Tahirih Justice Center is extremely grateful for the hard work of so many in making these events a wonderful success. Everyone who volunteered, hosted an event, assisted with the planning, and bought pearls contributed to our success. A special thank you to the event hosts and volunteers:

Photo by Jimmy Parker of the Red Hat Restaurant.

Ms. Miller-Muro founded the Tahirih Justice Center in 1997 following a well-publicized asylum case in which she was involved as a student attorney. Do They Hear You When You Cry (Delacorte Press 1998) tells the story of that case, written by Ms. Miller-Muro and Fauziya Kassindja, a 17-year-old woman who fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation. After arriving in the United States and spending more than 17 months in detention, Ms. Kassindja was granted asylum on appeal. Her case made legal history and established national precedent, enabling women to receive asylum on the basis of gender-based persecution.

Voices of Courage:

Immigrant Women and Girls Fleeing Violence

In honor of International Women’s Day

Monday, March 8, 2010
6:00 – 8:00pm
Rice University Student Center
Farnsworth Pavilion

Appetizers and beverages will be served. RSVP to Madelaine Delgado at houston@tahirih.org.

This locked case was filled with baby formula.

I learned from the check-out clerk that, in this grocery store, baby formula is the single most stolen item in the store. Upon hearing this, my eyes welled up with tears. “Can’t you just let them steal it?” I said. She replied, “I wish we could.”

As a mother, I know that there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do to protect and feed your child. Parents all over the world are united in their primordial instincts to protect their children. It is this same impulse to safeguard one’s family that motivates our clients to flee horrific forms of violence and come to us seeking help.

Women are too often willing to endure that which they will not tolerate for their children. Our clients overcome incredible obstacles to escape rape, genital mutilation, honor crimes, trafficking, domestic violence and widow rituals, and to protect their children from the legacy of violence.

“I will never allow my daughter to go through the same suffering that I did.”

Born in a small village in Africa, “Faizah” vividly recalls undergoing the practice known as female genital mutilation as a five-year-old child. Held down by four women, she screamed out in unbearable pain as her genitals were cut. For two months afterward, her mother poured a painfully scalding hot mixture over her wounds. When Faizah was fifteen, after an evaluation, her family and village elders determined that her clitoris was growing back. Once more, Faizah found herself restrained and enduring the excruciating pain of having her genitals cut with an unsterilized knife and no anesthetic. Faizah bled for an entire day afterward.

Faizah considers herself one of the lucky women in her village because she was able to get an education as well as marry a man that she loved. She had hope for happiness with him even as the trauma of her mutilations continued to affect her.

When Faizah’s daughter Marian was born, her family insisted that Marian undergo female genital mutilation. Faizah knew they would force the practice upon Marian even if she tried to stop it. Horrified by the thought of her daughter enduring what Faizah experienced twice over, she escaped to the United States where she found the Tahirih Justice Center. Tahirih partnered with pro bono attorneys to win refugee status for Faizah and her family–ending the cycle of violence.

“I look at my daughter everyday and thank God that I was able to protect her from the violence I had faced.”

From stealing baby formula to embarking on a hazardous and unknown journey to another country, people will go to great lengths to protect loved ones. But they cannot do it alone. Only with the compassion, support, and dedication of people like you can we work to protect women like Faizah and her daughter.

Today, we need your help to answer the pleas of other women and girls fleeing violence and seeking justice for themselves and their children. Make a secure contribution online now.

With your support, Tahirih has assisted nearly 10,000 women and children fleeing violence since 1997. This year alone, Tahirih has helped over 1,200 women and children through direct services and social and medical service referrals, including litigating 675 separate legal matters as part of 275 new and continued cases.

Through our award-winning programs, despite the cutting-edge and complex legal matters we undertake, Tahirih has maintained a 99% litigation success rate. This is a measure of the compelling nature of violence our clients are fleeing, as well as the high quality of our services and dedication to their protection. Competent legal representation is often the only way that immigrant women and girls can attain freedom from violence. For our clients, however, attaining legal status is just the beginning of the journey to rebuild their lives. To support their efforts to become self-sufficient, Tahirih assists clients in accessing shelter, clothing, food, medical care, and language or job training classes.

A shining achievement this year is the opening of Tahirih’s first field office in Houston, TX. Our office opened in the fall with Anne Chandler, an established member of the Houston immigrant rights community, as its director. Extending Tahirih’s organizational model to Houston, we are working closely with local law firms, like-minded organizations, and other partners to provide critically-needed services to the Greater Houston area.

Additionally, we played a prominent national role in advocating for better federal laws, policies, and regulations for the women we serve. Tahirih met with President Obama’s Transition Team, corresponded with Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Napolitano, presented at a meeting with the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House Council on Women and Girls, met with senior staff at the Department of Homeland Security, and engaged many Congressional offices to advocate for greater protections for immigrant women and girls fleeing violence.

On October 1, 2009, Tahirih’s efforts were highlighted in an article in the Washington Post featuring Tahirih’s recently-released report that draws attention to challenges faced by women seeking asylum in the United States. Tahirih unveiled the report at a Tahirih-sponsored Congressional Briefing where actor Sam Waterston (from NBC’s Law & Order) gave a compelling plea for the law to better protect women and girls fleeing violence.

Tahirih’s report highlighted the struggles of Tahirih’s clients caught in an inconsistent, daunting, and often inaccessible legal system, including “Rosita.” Rosita is a 23-year-old Honduran woman who was the victim of severe domestic violence by her child’s father, who was a Honduran police officer. Despite her many complaints to law enforcement, brutal public displays of his violence, and numerous hospital records and photographs of bruises on her swollen face and stab wounds to her body, she never received protection. After he threatened to kill her, she fled to the United States. Despite her compelling case and the fact that many women like her have received asylum in the United States, she was denied asylum. Her case highlights the inconsistency of the courts and unsettled nature of the law for women fleeing domestic violence.

We need your help to change the law and provide critical services so that women like Rosita may receive protection. With unique opportunities right now to influence the development of the law, we urgently need your support to continue our advocacy to more systemically protect women and girls from violence.

We fully understand that, in this economy, everyone is tightening their belt. We respect the fact that you are more careful than ever about where you invest your charitable donations and want to assure you that your support has a life-changing impact on the women and girls we serve.

In order to most efficiently use our resources, Tahirih partners with over 700 pro bono attorneys to maximize the number of women and girls served. These donated services allow us to turn every $1 into $5 of impact, so you may rest assured that your contributions to Tahirih are efficiently used. Excluding in-kind donations, 75% of your gift goes to programs, with only 25% going to overhead costs. Including in-kind donations, 95% of our expenses go directly to programs, with only 5% spent on overhead costs. Additionally, we have deliberately increased our efficiency over time and reduced the amount it costs us to litigate each legal matter by 66% over the last four years.

We feel strongly that it is our obligation to use every penny of our resources to maximize our impact, because lives are at stake. Our clients come to us when their lives are in danger and when they have decided to stand up, leave, and demand justice. It is well-documented that when the economy suffers, rates of violence go up.

Our clients need us now, more than ever. And we need your support more than ever. While our planning and efficiency has carried us through a full year during the current economic downturn, we have not been spared from its effects, and have experienced a dramatic decrease in several sources of funding. At this critical time, we need your help to continue serving our clients, meeting the need for our services, and making systemic changes to end violence against women.

Please make a donation today of whatever you can offer, and through our holistic direct services, public policy advocacy, and efficient leveraging of volunteers, you have a financially powerful opportunity to immediately protect lives, to make real changes to end violence against women, and to bring humanity closer to equality for women and men.

With deep appreciation,

Layli Miller-Muro
Executive Director

P.S.–The economy has impacted our donations and we need your help now more than ever. Please make a tax-deductible donation online today. Thank you for your support!