Tahirih Updates

Honoring Our Heartbeats: A Tour to End Forced Marriage in the United States

June 22nd, 2014

Focus Area Filter: Policy Advocacy, Training and Education

Topic Filter: Forced Marriage

UPDATE: Our six-city Heartbeats tour has concluded, but its true reach has always been defined by YOU. Please read more about the tour below, and get involved today in the movement to end forced marriage in the United States.

Epic Tour Resonates with Audiences Across America

How I Honor My Heartbeat: Tahirih Director Talks About Personal Impact of Tour in Huffington Post

Drive to Double the Impact of Petition to End Forced Marriage in America Begins in February

Petition to End Forced Marriage with 100,000+ Signatures Delivered to White House

Get the latest news on forced marriage at www.preventforcedmarriage.org.

SIGN PETITION TO END FORCED MARRIAGE IN U.S.

Healing from violence. Celebrating resiliency.
Redefining honor.

These are some of the powerful themes of “Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project,” a comic book created by a group of young South Asian women from Pomegranate Tree Group, a community-based organization committed to healing justice. Inspired by the book and its authors, Tahirih is embarking on a six-city tour with Pomegranate Tree Group to raise awareness of forced marriage and its impact on individuals in the United States. At each stop, we’ll host three, interactive events with the Heartbeats authors and select partners and distribute free copies of the “Heartbeats” comic book. Thanks to generous support from Foundation for a Just Society and Novo Foundation, there is no cost to attend tour events.

New York — Sept. 22-23, 2014
Houston — Oct. 16-17, 2014
San Francisco — Nov. 5-7, 2014
New Brunswick — Dec. 3-4, 2014
Chicago — Jan. 21-23, 2015
Washington, DC — March 17-19, 2015

Multimedia Performance and Community Forum
Features a play by the “Heartbeats” comic book authors, “When We Leave,” that explores the complex dynamics of family and culture and a film about forced marriage, “Caged.” Following the performance, there will be a Q&A session and a reception where free copies of the comic book “Heartbeats” will be available. The event is free and open to public.

Training Workshop
Equips service providers with the tools they need to identify and respond to individuals facing or fleeing forced marriage in the United States. Sessions will be led by Heartbeats authors and staff from Tahirih and the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic.

Issue Briefing
Invites policy makers, philanthropists, foundation officers, legal community partners, and allies to become more informed about the issue of forced marriage in the United States and our efforts to build a coordinated, national response to this pressing human rights violation.

Featured art by Somya Singh and Selena Wong. Video by RED Interactive.