At the age of 17, Fauziya Kassindja fled Togo and sought asylum in the United States to avoid a forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Instead of finding protection, she spent more than 17 months in detention. Then-law student Layli Miller-Muro helped bring her case to the highest immigration court in the nation, and Fauziya was granted asylum in 1996 by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. The decision set national precedent and established gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum.
Tahirih’s Founder Involved in Landmark Asylum Victory
Survivor Voices
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Anastasia
I came to the U.S. in the winter of 2006. Life back home in Mexico was tough for me and my family. I dreamt of going to college and graduating but with my family’s economic status, that dream was too costly and impossible.
At least I was able to graduate high school and that is something I am proud of since I was also working at the time to help my family. I was always looking for an opportunity to have a better life as a young woman.June 23, 2023 -
Camila
“I hope my story is helpful to someone else…and can inspire many women to be stronger. We need to help young women identify toxic relationships, so that there are fewer Camilas that go through such difficult things, let alone have our children suffer.”
November 21, 2022
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