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

We are at a critical moment for CEDAW ratification, but the window of opportunity is closing, and fast. We cannot allow the United States to continue to be one of only seven countries in the world that has not ratified CEDAW. We know that CEDAW works. Several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Morocco, South Africa, and Uganda have incorporated provisions in the CEDAW treaty into their constitutions and domestic legal codes. Additionally, Egypt, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Pakistan have all seen significant increases in literacy rates after improving access to education for girls and women. Click here to tell President Obama that the women and girls of the world can’t wait any longer—we need CEDAW now!

When Sofia’s mother was discharged from the hospital, mother and daughter had nowhere safe to stay, so they returned to the only home they knew. Her mother told police that she was afraid of her husband and asked them to remove him from the trailer the family shared. The police arrested Sofia’s stepfather, but he was only jailed for a month. Upon his release, he went into hiding from the police and secretly returned to the trailer. He was outraged that Sofia had called for help. In revenge, he raped her. At age 11, Sofia became pregnant.

Sofia and her mother were afraid to stay any longer. Tahirih and a team of advocates successfully arranged emergency housing for them at a secure women’s shelter, far from Sofia’s stepfather. Tahirih, with the support of Crowell & Moring, filed a U visa petition for Sofia and her mother. On November 17, 2005, it was approved. At 12 years old, Sofia gave birth to a baby girl, whom she is now raising with her mother.

Make Another Victory Possible

Our work helping courageous women and girls is only possible with support from individuals like you.

Donate now to ensure that Tahirih can respond to urgent pleas for assistance. With Tahirih’s unique model of leveraging pro bono legal services from outside professionals, we are able to magnify the power of your gift. In 2009 alone, we received $7.65 million worth of donated services, turning every $1 you donated into $5. Your donation has a truly life-changing impact.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy. The photograph included here is not of Sofia. Photo by Sergio Pessolano.

My parents, especially my father, showered me with love and kindness throughout my early years growing up in Saudi Arabia. Yet, Kasim was nothing like my father, and instead of the happy marriage and loving household that I dreamed of, I suffered constant sexual, physical, and emotional torture at the hands of Kasim for over two decades.

Kasim brutally hurt me all the time. He beat me for lifting my veil from eyes so that I could see, he beat me in front of our children (and often beat them, too), and he would beat me and call me derogatory names in public. Once, when I asked him not to beat our maid, he became furious at me, beat me so severely that he sheared my earlobe, and locked me up in the house for fifteen days straight. When I begged him to allow me to use the bathroom during this imprisonment, he told me to use the garbage can. I felt so humiliated. Kasim had an easy time getting away with hurting me because he was a wealthy, respected physician. He boasted to me constantly that he could do anything to me in Saudi Arabia and no one could stop him.

Kasim would force me to have sex with him constantly from the very beginning of our marriage. Once, when I gently told him that I did not feel like having sex because I had severe back pain, Kasim beat me so hard on my head and body that I lost consciousness. When I woke up, he had removed my clothes and was forcing himself on me. I felt sick and wanted to vomit. Another time, when I was in the United States for my son’s kidney transplant, I called Kasim, who was in Saudi Arabia, and told him that I used our credit card to get the tires on our car changed. He screamed at me for changing the tires without asking for his permission first and told me he was going to come to the United States to kill me. I was shocked when he actually showed up at our house in Virginia the very next day and started beating me. Luckily, a neighbor saw the beating, and the Virginia police came and arrested Kasim for a few days. After they let him out, he returned to Saudi Arabia, and when I went back, he punished me for his arrest by beating me for a whole day. He broke my left eardrum such that when I breathed, it felt as if I were breathing in air from my left ear. To this day, I suffer from problems in that ear.

After that incident and almost twenty-five years of this torturous marriage, I finally mustered up the courage to file for divorce from Kasim. I moved from place to place in Saudi Arabia so that he would not find and kill me as I was fighting for divorce. I am still surprised that I was able to obtain a divorce, because Kasim had the police come to arrest and harass my family members to threaten me to revoke the divorce petition. Even the judge tried to convince me to withdraw my petition. Kasim vowed to kill me when I got the divorce from him, and I knew he meant it because he felt I had dishonored his manhood. I decided to flee to the United States because it was the only place Kasim had ever been arrested for hurting me. I felt it was the only country that could protect me from Kasim.

With the help of the Tahirih Justice Center and Fidelis Agbapuruonwu at Mayer Brown, I was granted asylum in the United States in the spring of 2008. I wept so much when I heard the good news. The experience of a twenty-five-year long violent marriage will never go away. But I am finally free and safe to build a new life for myself and my children.

Make Another Victory Possible

Our work helping courageous women and girls is only possible with support from individuals like you.

Donate now to ensure that Tahirih can respond to urgent pleas for assistance. With Tahirih’s unique model of leveraging pro bono legal services from outside professionals, we are able to magnify the power of your gift. In 2009 alone, we received $7.65 million worth of donated services, turning every $1 you donated into $5. Your donation has a truly life-changing impact.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy. The photograph included here is not of Mateen. Photo by Sergio Pessolano.

When I was five years old, my family forced me to undergo female genital mutilation in our small village in West Africa. No girl could refuse, and especially not me, because my father was an elder in the village. I remember it vividly—four women held me down as I screamed out in unbearable pain. For up to two months afterwards, my mother poured a painfully scalding hot mixture on my private parts as part of this ritual. I was only a small child to suffer such pain.

But the next time they did this to me, I was a teenager. Because my family and village deeply believed that all women must be excised, I was compelled to undergo frequent examinations. When I was around fifteen, they determined that my clitoris was growing back, and I was forced to undergo the horrible procedure again. This time, my father’s wives held me down, and as before, my genitals were cut with an unsterilized knife and no anesthetic. As before, the procedure was excruciatingly painful, and this time, I bled for an entire day afterward.

Although I continued to experience pain and frequent, vivid nightmares of the procedure, I was one of the lucky ones in my village because I was able to go to school and get an education. In my early twenties, I met my husband Paul, who was a Christian, and I began accompanying him to his church. Paul and I fell in love and decided to marry.

In spite of the happiness we shared, my excisions continued to haunt me. The procedures resulted in physical, psychological, and emotional pain that I have carried my whole life. I endured the pain and heartbreak of four miscarriages. To become a mother, which is all I wanted, I had to undergo very painful corrective procedures in order to give birth to my daughter and son. Even now, after the corrective medical procedure, making love to my husband makes me bleed, gives me excruciating pain, and causes me extreme sadness because it robs me of my ability to enjoy intimacy with the man I love.

After my daughter, Marian, was born, my family told me that she needed to be excised. They believed it was their right to have Marian mutilated, and I knew they would punish me and forcibly excise her if I tried to stop it from happening. I was horrified by the thought and knew that I had to protect my daughter at all costs so that she did not have to suffer what I still suffer.

Paul moved our family to the United States for him to attend school shortly after Marian’s birth. I applied for asylum here knowing that no one in my country would protect us from the harm that we faced if we returned. Many of the police there believe women should be mutilated, and will not interfere in family matters. Thank God for the Tahirih Justice Center and my wonderful pro bono lawyers who took my case. They spent endless hours working on my behalf, and finally, in September of 2008, we won asylum in the United States. I am thrilled beyond belief that my family is finally safe and free. I look at my daughter everyday and thank God that I was able to protect her from the violence that I faced.

Make Another Victory Possible

Our work helping courageous women and girls is only possible with support from individuals like you.

Donate now to ensure that Tahirih can respond to urgent pleas for assistance. With Tahirih’s unique model of leveraging pro bono legal services from outside professionals, we are able to magnify the power of your gift. In 2009 alone, we received $7.65 million worth of donated services, turning every $1 you donated into $5. Your donation has a truly life-changing impact.

*Names have been changed to protect privacy. The photograph included here is not of Faizah. Photo by Sergio Pessolano.

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.

On March 15, 2010, Senators Leahy and Levin introduced the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 (S. 3113). This landmark legislation, co-sponsored by Senators Durbin, Akaka, and Burris, reaffirms the United States’ commitment to all those fleeing persecution and torture, and, among other critical reforms, includes key provisions that will assist women and girls seeking asylum in the United States. When introducing the bill, Senator Leahy noted that the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 would “repeal the most harsh and unnecessary elements of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, a law that had tragic consequences for asylum seekers. It also corrects agency and court misinterpretations of law that limit access to safety in the United States for asylum seekers.” See Senator Leahy’s press release here.

Help Sustain Asylum Advocacy

Originally scheduled for April 1-30, 2010, the Protecting Lives Giving Challenge is a fundraising campaign among the generous attorneys and staff at our pro bono partner law firms, with the goal this year to raise $50,000 to help sustain our gender-based asylum advocacy. Due to an exciting donation match opportunity with Lexis Nexis, we are delaying the start date until May 1, 2010, and are excited about the opportunity to raise more support for immigrant women and girls fleeing violence! Read More >

In the months preceding the introduction of this important legislation, Tahirih called the attention of the public and policymakers to the many obstacles to protection faced by women and girls who have fled gender-based persecution. In September 2009, Tahirih held a Congressional Briefing and released a new report that highlighted how current US law and policy prevents many women and girls from finding the safe haven they desperately need and deserve here. Tahirih followed up these awareness-raising activities with direct outreach to urge Congress and the Administration to enact a number of long overdue reforms to the US asylum system.

In particular, Tahirih worked closely with Senator Leahy’s office to ensure that the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 strengthens the United States’ commitment to protect women and girls fleeing gender-based persecution. In addition to eliminating an arbitrary one-year filing deadline (a procedural hurdle that is applicable to all asylum-seekers but that has a particularly harsh impact on women and girls), the bill also clarifies the proper legal framework to apply to gender-based asylum claims.

The Refugee Protection Act of 2010 is supported by over 20 organizations around the country; in addition to Tahirih, endorsing organizations include Amnesty International, Human Rights First, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (at UC Hastings School of Law), and Refugees International. (Visit Human Rights First to learn more about the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 and to take action.)

Tahirih is also grateful for the recent introduction of other legislation in the House of Representatives that will help our asylum clients receive a fair hearing and obtain justice. Following Tahirih’s briefing and report release, several Congressional offices reached out to Tahirih to better understand the problems currently faced by women asylum seekers and to explore solutions. As one critical step forward, on March 10, 2010, Representatives Jim Moran, Pete Stark, and Diane Watson introduced the Restoring Protection for Victims of Persecution Act (H.R. 4800), a bill which would eliminate the one-year bar to asylum and re-focus the attention of asylum officers and immigration judges on the actual merits of an applicant’s appeal for US protection. Representatives Jim McGovern, Yvette Clarke, and Raul Grijalva have recently also signed on to co-sponsor this bill.

Tahirih looks forward to working with these Congressional champions and other allies in the months ahead to ensure that women and girls fleeing gender-based violence can access safety and obtain justice in the United States.

Photo by Sergio Pessolano.

Olga Sanchez (Colombia), Reim Kazam (Sudan), Martha Alicia (Central America), and Melei (West Africa) made heartfelt remarks on behalf of the current and former clients of the Tahirih Justice Center. They thanked these legislators who have helped Tahirih so much and gave them a real sense of the challenges that Tahirih’s clients face and have to overcome in order to build safe, peaceful lives for themselves and their children.

After enduring long and painful struggles, these women are now doing well and have renewed hope for their futures. Olga is now a professional with a software company, and supporting herself and her daughter. Melei, a dentist by training, has her own elder-care business and is also now pursuing her US dentistry accreditation. And inspired by their mothers’ experiences with Tahirih, Reim’s son and Martha’s daughter are now considering becoming lawyers themselves. Through sharing with the Congressmen these sorts of simple but meaningful steps forward, the group impressed upon the legislators how their support helps ensure that Tahirih can touch and transform the lives of many other women and families.

In addition to expressing their own gratitude, the group presented the Congressmen with hand-signed cards filled with thank-you notes like the one below from a Tahirih client who, upon being told that we were able to secure her legal status, wrote us:

“I am so happy that I dont know what to do. I have danced , danced and laughed endlessly and only pray for Tahirih Justice Center that may God give them more strengh, knowlegh and diplomacy to handle more of this cases…thanking you so much.”

The group’s visit to Capitol Hill was special in other ways as well. They also met briefly with the Chief of Staff to Congressman Al Green (who represents Houston, where Tahirih has opened a new office). And in an exciting turn of events, the Congressmen were unexpectedly called to the House floor for votes, so staffers escorted the group to meet with the Congressmen right outside the voting chamber.

As they waited, the group saw at least a dozen other legislators bustle about House business, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They also spoke with Representatives Corrine Brown and Kendrick Meek, past Honorary Congressional Co-Chairs for Tahirih’s Benefit. In addition, staffers for Congressmen Moran and Wolf graciously gave the group a tour of the Capitol. Given their disempowering pasts, these women were especially moved to be treated like dignitaries in the seat of governmental power – among other highlights, they were thrilled to be escorted through the original Supreme Court chamber, and brought to stand on the exact same spot where the President begins his walk for the State of the Union address.

Jeanne Smoot, Tahirih’s Director of Public Policy, came with Tahirih’s Wings to Capitol Hill and reflected, “I was so proud to accompany these fine ambassadors – as I said to the Congressmen, Tahirih’s staff take inspiration every single day from the strength, dignity, and perseverance of our amazing clients, and especially from Tahirih’s Wings’ desire to uplift each other and to transform our world into a better place.”