Dear Friends,
We are excited to announce that, this week, the Tahirih Justice Center released the results of our groundbreaking national survey on the state of forced marriage in the United States. The survey is the first of its kind conducted in the United States and designed to understand the scope and nature of forced marriage among immigrant communities. Newsweek magazine has reported on the survey results in this week’s edition and the full survey report can be read on Tahirih's website.
Forced marriage is an issue that has increasingly come to our attention as Tahirih received calls for help from around the country. There is a regrettable lack of information in the United States about forced marriage, there are no laws designed to protect forced marriage victims, and there is a void in community dialogue and advocacy on the issue. In stark contrast to the United Kingdom, which has a governmental agency focused on forced marriage, a national forced marriage hotline, and a specific forced marriage temporary restraining order, the United States is woefully behind and has very little in place to adequately protect women and girls fleeing forced marriage. To address this need, Tahirih has launched a Forced Marriage Initiative to protect courageous women and girls who step forward and ask for help. We invite you to sign up to receive updates on this important issue.
Thank you for your partnership in ending violence against women and girls,
Layli Miller-Muro
Executive Director
"My husband Jean and I were married for many years, had two beautiful daughters, and were very happy together. Many years into our marriage, I became a member of the True Church of God of Cameroon, a Pentecostal church, and was devastated with his reaction.
Jean, like most Cameroonians, is a Catholic, and views Pentecostalism as an illegitimate, sacrilegious sect. He accused me of saying prayers to harm his business and told me that my religion disturbed every part of his life. Whenever I returned home from church service, Jean was waiting for me. He whipped me with a belt many times and once, he even threatened me with a hammer. He told me he would kill me.
In my religion, we wake up every night at midnight to pray. My husband would lie awake until midnight, and when I would start to get up he would pull me down by my clothing and force oral and anal sex on me. If I tried to refuse, he beat me and threatened me. Even though he would usually assault me in our bedroom, the children could hear me crying and could hear him yelling at me. Horrified and confused by the sounds they heard, they came to the door to see what was happening. My heart broke that they witnessed their father’s extreme abuse.
After my conversion of faith, I was abandoned by many friends, family members, and colleagues. However, I was able to transfer my job to a town three hours away by bus, to get away from Jean’s abuse.
But Jean stalked me...."
Click here to continue reading Mariam's story on Tahirih's website.
*Names have been changed to protect privacy. The photograph included here is not of Mariam. Photo by Sergio Pessolano.
Dear friends,
Thank you for investing in the work of the Tahirih Justice Center! I would like to invite you to read about Tahirih’s recent accomplishments in our Spring Newsletter, including the growth of our Houston Pro Bono Attorney Network through educational outreach, our new forced marriage advocacy initiative, and an improved protective order statute in Virginia.
None of our work would be possible without your support. Thank you for investing in Tahirih’s mission of providing justice for immigrant women and children fleeing violence.
Warm regards,
Layli Miller-Muro
Executive Director
PS – don’t forget, you can also follow Tahirih’s work by signing up for updates at our website or by following us on Twitter and Facebook!
