Inter Press Service, a global news agency that focuses on coverage of marginalized communities, brought attention to Tahirih’s call for a coordinated, federal response to the problem of forced marriage in the United States in an article published this week.
The article, “Focus on Child Marriage, Genital Mutilation at All Time High,” covered Girl Summit, a gathering of governments, NGOs, and leaders from around the world committed to ending child/early/forced marriage and FGM within a generation.
Tahirih’s Director of Public Policy Archi Pyati urges federal agencies to work together and with community and NGO partners to ensure thoughtful and coordinated response to the hidden problem of forced marriage in the United States.
A 2011 Tahirih survey found that service providers encountered as many as 3,000 known or suspected cases of forced marriage in 47 U.S. states in just a two-year-period. In response, Tahirih launched its Forced Marriage Initiative in 2011.
