Browse our publications to learn more about how we support immigrant survivors of gender-based violence through service in communities, courts, and Congress.
WASHINGTON – After her father found out she was raped, Vilas Wright was forced to marry a man twice her age. Speaking before the Washington, DC City Council Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety on Monday, October 21, she testified, “No one asked me. I was a naive and innocent little girl even if I was a feisty redhead. No one stopped it. No one stood up and questioned if this was right or wrong. You have the power to do that today.”
DC Council held a hearing on the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024, introduced by Councilmember Brooke Pinto (Ward 2), as the next step in the legislative process. According to a Tahirih Justice Center report, Washington, DC is the only jurisdiction in the mid-Atlantic region that has not taken action to end child marriage. This legislative hearing was the next step in righting that horrible wrong.
In her moving testimony Vilas, a Maryland resident, described being repeatedly raped at 13 years old, treated “as a mere possession” until being “tossed aside” and becoming homeless. “I never attended high school. I was not able to get a job because I had no training and was not old enough to be hired. I survived by trading my body for shelter and food. After all, it seemed to carry no other value. The consequences of the events of my childhood will remain with me for the duration of my lifetime,” she added.
Aliya Abbas, another metro DC resident, said, “I wholeheartedly support this bill because it hits home. It’s extremely personal. I am a product of child marriage and who better than a child bride to know the reality of this injustice.” She went on to describe being removed from high school at the age of 17, and flown to another country to be married to a total stranger.
“That one instance changed my life forever. I became a mother at 18 and then again at 20, both times without my consent. Being a mother is one of the most fulfilling jobs I have, but I won’t lie, it took every ounce of my being to get to where I am today. It’s actually a miracle. No child should ever have to endure that unimaginable heavy load of raw pain. The years I spent in the marriage, if you can even call it that, were the most painful years of my life where I endured mental, emotional, and physical abuse and torture as well as marital rape,” Aliya said.
In her testimony, Aliya described herself as a “survivor who had the courage to finally stand up for myself and for the sake of my children at any cost.” She also explained that being an advocate on such a personal issue is “not only emotionally and mentally traumatic, but has physical implications. I will spend this day writing the testimony along with the day when I have to orally testify in sorrow and unimaginable pain of having to relive the trauma in sharing my story, yet again, in hope of seeing a day when … survivors no longer have to relive their traumas through advocating to end child marriage, because good people in this world would have worked together to eliminate it.”
Survivors Brigitte Combs (Virginia), Sara Tasneem, and Judy Wiegand also testified before the DC Council, alongside Dr. Indira Henard, Executive Director of the DC Rape Crisis Center, Lul Mohamud, Executive Director of The Person Center, and Alex Goyette, Public Policy Manager at the Tahirih Justice Center. Find all testimonies here.
Said Sara Tasneem, “At fifteen years old I was forced to marry a stranger who was 13 years older than me. I was legally married to my rapist and abuser at the age of 16 and clearly pregnant — which was evidence of rape…. It took me seven long years of surviving my abusive relationship and overcoming enormous obstacles to separate and file for divorce. It then took three years to finalize my divorce. As a minor, I faced extreme and numerous barriers to being able to leave my abusive marriage. Sadly, I am not the exception. It has taken me years to recognize and address the severe impacts child marriage has had on me, including PTSD from the prolonged abuse, recovering from the financial abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and physical abuse, the educational impacts of being taken out of school as a fifteen-year-old led directly to extreme poverty. It has taken me years to recover.”
These brave survivors, and others, are speaking up to protect children from having to endure these same experiences.
“If my efforts and words to you as a survivor and an advocate can save one child from living the hell that comes as a result of children getting married, then I am asking you to hear my testimony and protect future generations of innocent children from this fate. You have the power to do that today by setting the minimum age to marry at 18 with no exception,” concluded Vilas.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Read additional testimonies in support of the Child Marriage Prohibition Amendment Act of 2024, offered during the October 21 DC City Council hearing.
See the Tahirih Justice Center report, “Child Marriage in Washington, DC,” and two-page issue brief about the DC legislation.
Learn more about the DC legislation and find quotes from Alex Goyette, Public Policy Manager with the Tahirih Justice Center; Dr. Indira Henard, Executive Director of the DC Rape Crisis Center; Lul Mohamud, MPH, Executive Director of The Person Center; Sasha Taylor, child marriage survivor-advocate and founder of SK Sultana LLC; and Councilmember Brooke Pinto (Ward 2), the bill’s sponsor, here.
CONTACT: Lynn Tramonte ([email protected] / 202-255-0551)
Falls Church – Everyone should have the right to determine whether to get married, when, and to whom. But every year in the United States, hundreds of children find themselves locked into marriages they are not ready for — whether through coercion, or because it seems like the best way out of an abusive situation. The cycle of exploitation, abuse, and diminished futures continues.
Tahirih Justice Center compiled an updated resource bank of analyses, reports, and survivor stories to help lawmakers, the media, and the public inform themselves about the landscape in individual states and nationwide.
Today, in 2024, child marriage remains legal — fully or partially — in 37 states plus the District of Columbia. While 35 states have limited this insidious form of child abuse in some way since 2016, only 13 states have banned it outright. And the practice remains completely unchecked in 15 states plus Washington, DC. For nearly a decade, Tahirih Justice Center and partners have been working with survivors of child marriage and domestic violence to enact laws nationwide protecting children from abuse, exploitation, and the inability to determine their own futures.
The updated resource bank from Tahirih Justice Center includes a report about what the federal government can do to help end child marriage nationwide. This begins with enacting the Child Marriage Marriage Prevention Act, federal legislation introduced by Senators Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), and Schatz (D-PA).
Because marriage laws are generally determined by the states, the landscape is complex and details matter. Tahirih’s resource bank includes 50-state appendices with detailed scorecards, plus data and analysis about progress made in individual states.
The resource also includes the lived experiences of people who have survived forced and child marriage, because they are the true experts in this arena and the voices that need to be heard.
Naila Amin, a survivor of child marriage and advocate for abolition, spoke out recently in Teen Vogue. “Naila’s Law in New York — which raised the age of consent to wed in the state to 18, effectively outlawing child marriage — is … named after a living victim: me, a survivor of the very thing the law now bans. I often wonder how different my life would have been if this law was in place when I was a child, before I was forced to marry an adult man. It would have saved me so much trauma, throughout years of my life, freeing me from the fear I still carry. As a mother of a daughter, I vow to protect her and all the other girls of this world to ensure that no child has to go through what I did, ever again,” wrote Amin.
Said Alex Goyette, Public Policy Manager with the Tahirih Justice Center, “Congress must pass the Child Marriage Prevention Act to modernize federal and state law and protect our nation’s children. The bill encourages states to raise age-of-consent laws to 18, as is under consideration in DC; prohibits child marriages on federal lands and property; and strengthens U.S. immigration laws so that minors cannot be used by abusers — even under their parents’ direction or consent — as a passport to immigration.”
Wrote Casey Swegman, Director of Policy with the Tahirih Justice Center, in Ms. Magazine, “The Tahirih Justice Center, in partnership with survivor advocates and our allies in the movement to end gender-based violence, are advocating for swift passage of the Child Marriage Prevention Act because everyone should have the right to decide whether, when and whom to marry. The fact that children in so many states plus the District of Columbia, today, remain without this basic guarantee is a stain on our national conscience, but it’s a problem we can solve.”
Access the resource bank at tahirih.org/what-we-do/policy-advocacy/child-marriage-policy/
Contact: Lynn Tramonte, [email protected] / 202-255-0551
Falls Church, VA – Reacting to additional asylum restrictions from DHS and DOJ, Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center said, “It takes profound courage and strength to leave everything you know to seek safety in another country. The survivors we work with at the Tahirih Justice Center are heroes, fighting to save their own lives and break cycles of violence. We are completely opposed to this latest move that would cement and expand border policies that unlawfully restrict access to asylum. The current border policies and asylum restrictions have already been ‘death by a thousand cuts’ — and can mean literal death for already traumatized survivors with nowhere else to turn for safety.”
Tahirih Justice Center represents and advocates for survivors of gender-based violence in immigration court and before Congress and the Executive Branch. The new policy flies in the face of every one of Tahirih’s “Five Principles for a Trauma-Informed and Survivor-Centered Immigration Framework,” which calls for policies that:
Despite comments from advocates, DHS and DOJ have moved forward with plans to further restrict asylum eligibility. “Instead of a humane policy to more effectively manage the opportunity of immigration and protect the rights of survivors of gender-based violence along our border, the federal government is relying on a cruel deterrence-based approach,” said Swegman. “The policy fails to recognize the human need for migration, the right to seek asylum under current U.S. law and well established international law, the strength of people’s will to survive, and the fact that immigrants enrich our communities through their contributions, energy, and commitment every day.”
To learn more about Tahirih’s interdisciplinary approach to securing dignity, justice, and transformation for survivors, visit our website: www.tahirih.org.
Contact: Lynn Tramonte ([email protected] / 202-255-0551
Falls Church, VA – Following is a statement from Archi Pyati, Chief Executive Officer of the Tahirih Justice Center.
As a leading advocate for immigrant survivors of violence, and an organization inspired by the principles of the Baha’i Faith, the Tahirih Justice Center has a message for immigrants – particularly Haitian immigrants – in Ohio and beyond.
We know it isn’t an easy decision to leave where we are born and seek a fresh start in another country. We know the paths many immigrants and refugees take can be very long and very hard. At Tahirih, we hold as a foundational value the oneness of our humanity, and that we all have a right to safety and justice.
What is happening now in Springfield, Ohio and beyond is wrong. It is racist and frightening. Spreading hateful and xenophobic lies that demonize immigrants who are here to simply live their lives has a real impact. These words fuel threats and acts of violence intended to terrify immigrants and have ripple effects throughout the country. These impacts are especially heavy for Black and brown communities, but they weaken our society as a whole.
Whether you were born in the United States or just arrived, every human being deserves safety and respect.
At the Tahirih Justice Center, we support immigrant survivors of gender-based violence on their journey to justice. We work with survivors to access protections available to them under the law, and advocate for changing the law when existing structures fail to protect all of us. Today, Haitians in Ohio and other states are experiencing a level of fear and danger that no person should face, including survivors of trauma.
A future that honors the oneness of our humanity will be built by all of us. Every individual who breaks the cycle of violence and speaks out against hateful rhetoric is a force for change and a sign that the future we dream of is possible.
The Tahirih Justice Center offers our solidarity to Haitian-born residents and immigrants across this country.
For more resources on ways individuals and organizations can show up in this moment, please see this toolkit from the Haitian Bridge Alliance.
Archi Pyati: “Anyone, of any political ideology, should embrace these principles and work to achieve a truly just, equitable, and safe world”
Falls Church – Tahirih Justice Center is a leading advocate for immigrant survivors of gender-based violence, as well as survivors of forced and child marriage. Inspired by the principles of the Baha’i Faith, Tahirih is a secular organization and entirely nonpartisan. We care deeply about the commitments U.S. policymakers make toward ending gender-based violence and — most importantly — the results. During an election year, the most controversial issues always take center stage. But establishing a humane, trauma-informed immigration system should not be a matter of controversy.
“Everyone has the right to live with dignity and safety in thriving communities, with the ability to move on from the most challenging moments of their lives and embrace their full potential as members of the human family,“ said Archi Pyati, Chief Executive Officer of the Tahirih Justice Center. “At the Tahirih Justice Center, we have a clear vision for the world we want to live in — one that we believe any policymaker in the United States, at any level of government, should share. We are working to co-create a U.S. legal system that supports women, girls, and all survivors of gender-based violence. The changes we seek at Tahirih transcend partisan politics; we truly believe that anyone, of any political ideology, should embrace these principles and work to achieve a truly just, equitable, and safe world.”
Access Tahirih’s Pathways to Progress: Five Principles for a Trauma-Informed and Survivor-Centered Immigration Framework here. In summary, Tahirih seeks policy proposals that:
“These five principles are the lenses through which we view any and all immigration or related policies that impact the communities we are working to protect and empower,” added Pyati. “From ending child and forced marriage to ensuring survivors of gender-based violence can actually access immigration legal protections, including asylum and the protections enshrined in the Violence Against Women Act, Tahirih is working to build a world where all survivors — regardless of immigration status — can attain safety and justice. To achieve this goal, we believe these values must be reflected in all our systems, including housing, healthcare, and criminal justice — as well as immigration.”
To learn more about Tahirih’s interdisciplinary approach to securing dignity, justice, and transformation for survivors, visit our website: www.tahirih.org.
The Tahirih Justice Center is dismayed by the recent Texas legislation that targets immigrants, people seeking asylum, and Texans of color for arrest, deportation, and further criminalization. These new laws – SB4 from the 3rd Special Session adding a penalty enhancement for smuggling, and SB3 and SB4 from the 4th Special Session, on appropriations and unlawful entry, perpetuate racist and xenophobic narratives about immigrants. These laws will also have a devasting and disproportionate impact on immigrant survivors of gender-based violence by cutting off access to the U.S. asylum system, enabling law enforcement officers to deport survivors of crime rather than provide assistance, and creating conditions in which immigrants are increasingly vulnerable to violence.
Enacting these policies will exacerbate the risk of gender-based violence along the U.S. southern border, as women and girls are left vulnerable to abuse and exploitation in increasingly precarious conditions. The impact of these laws will be felt statewide and will serve to cultivate a climate of fear among survivors of gender-based violence seeking asylum in the U.S. while undermining protections guaranteed to survivors under federal law.
Texas has a legal and moral obligation to protect all asylum seekers and immigrants, particularly women, children, and all who experience gender-based violence, from further harm. The Tahirih Justice Center calls on Texans to join in solidarity with immigrant survivors of gender-based violence to support humane and trauma-informed immigration policies.
The Tahirih Justice Center is outraged by the news that the administration appears willing to play politics with human lives. These attacks on immigrants and people seeking asylum represent not simply a broken promise, but a betrayal and we urge the President and Congress to reverse course.
“I am gravely concerned that, if passed, these policies will further trap and endanger immigrant survivors of gender-based violence. Selling out asylum seekers and immigrant communities under the guise of ‘border security’ in order to pass a supplemental funding package is absolutely unacceptable,” said Casey Carter Swegman, Director of Public Policy at the Tahirih Justice Center. “And we know the impact of these cruel, deterrence-based policies will land disproportionately on already marginalized immigrants of color. I urge the White House and Congress not to sell out immigrants and asylum seekers for a funding deal.”
Every day, people fleeing persecution – including survivors of gender-based violence – arrive at our border having escaped unspeakable violence. Rasing the fear standard, enacting a travel ban, putting a cap on asylum seekers, and expanding expedited removal nationwide (to name just a few proposals that have been floated in recent days) will do nothing to solve the challenges at the southern border and serve only to create more confusion, narrow pathways to humanitarian relief, increase the risk of revictimization and suffering, and punish immigrants seeking safety and a life of dignity.
These kinds of proposals double down on the climate of fear that many immigrants in this country already face on a day-to-day basis and will disproportionately impact Black, Brown and Indigenous immigrant communities. Immigrants should not be met with hostile and unmanageable policies that violate their humanity as well as their legal rights. We can and must do better.
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