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by Rachel Simon

Tahirih Justice Center – Inside Scoop

(May 7, 2018) Catherine Read speaks with Anusce Sanai, Adriana López and Casey Carter Swegman about their roles at the Tahirih Justice Center. Through direct services, policy advocacy, training and education Tahirih protects immigrant women and girls, and promotes a world where women and girls enjoy equality and live in safety and dignity. The center was founded in 1997 with the proceeds from the book “Do They Hear You When You Cry” published by attorney Layli Miller-Muro, which documented her landmark case of Fauziya Kassindja.  Kassindja fled Togo to seek asylum in the US in order to avoid forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). This landmark case set national precedent for United States Immigration Courts, that established gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum.

Anusce Sanai Tahirih Justice CenterIn the first segment Catherine speaks with Anusce Sanai, who is the Greater DC Supervising Attorney for Immigration and Family Law for Tahirih. She gives a broad overview of the holistic nature of the services that Tahirih provides for its clients.  The center works with a network of over 1400 pro-bono attorneys, located in five locations throughout the United States. In addition to the Greater DC flagship office located in Falls Church, Tahirih has offices in Baltimore, Houston, Atlanta, and San Francisco. In addition to providing legal services to help clients navigate the immigration system, Tahirih assists clients who are fleeing violent domestic situations with every type of wrap-around social service that they will need to survive and to thrive.

The immigration system in the United States is complex and ever-changing, and the success rate for women seeking asylum is very low.  However when clients are represented by Tahirih attorneys, there is a 95% success rate. Clients come to the center mostly through word of mouth referrals and through agencies who are on the ground working with detained individuals. The attorneys work to stay on top of best practices and fully understand the rules and procedures that can affect their clients. Today, there is a huge backlog of cases, which is challenging for women who are fleeing difficult situations and are trying to make a fresh start for themselves.

Adriana Lopez Tahirih Justice CenterIn the second segment, Catherine interviews Adriana López, the Social Services Program Manager for the Greater DC office. Adriana’s job is to oversee the wrap-around social services that the center provides. Most women coming to the center have experienced severe trauma – whether it be rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, or human and sex trafficking. Tahirih Justice Center embraces a holistic model, that extends additional safety nets for their clients.   These services include, but are not limited to, medical services, medical debt relief, food pantries, emergency housing, English language classes, career counseling, mental health assessments and safety planning. By developing partnerships with community agencies and local nonprofits, Tahirih helps find resources in the community that can support their clients and give them the best possible opportunity to thrive.

López points out that there are a variety of ways for people to volunteer, even if they are not able to provide pro-bono legal services. The center is always seeking out mentors for women who can provide professional support and assist clients in navigating the difficult terrain of living in a foreign country.  They are also always in need of help of administrative support in their office, with childcare, assisting with support groups and providing translation services. If you are interested in learning more, visit the website to learn about all of the opportunities.

Casey Carter SwegmanIn the final segment, Catherine speaks with Casey Carter Swegman about Tahirih’s Forced Marriage Initiative. In 2016, this team worked very hard to pass a bill prohibiting child marriage in Virginia. The center advocated a policy position that children under the age of 18 should not be allowed to marry. Nationwide across the US, there are approximately 200,000 minors who are married on an annual basis. Many times, these minor women are marrying much older men (with parental consent) but nobody at the courthouse is asking the minors if they truly want to be married. These minor women had no legal way to get themselves out of this untenable situation.

Carter Swegman, in conjunction with community partners and bi-partisan support in the Virginia legislature, passed the first bill of its kind in the US designed to protect children from forced marriage.  Co-patrons of the bill, State Senators Jill Vogel and Jennifer McClellan worked very hard to make this bill a reality. The bill does include a provision where a 17 year old can request emancipation from their parents in order to marry. This is a process built into the system to enable those who are serious about wanting to get married, while still protecting minors from being forced into a situation against their will.

The Tahirih Justice Center has experienced exponential growth since its inception in 1997 thanks to the generous donors who support their mission.   The center is funded in part by government grants, foundations, corporations, law firms and private donors. Their annual Gala is happening on Friday May 11th at the Marquis Marriott in Washington, DC, featuring Grammy award winning singer Andy Grammer You can visit their website to purchase tickets, to make a donation in support of the center and to volunteer.

You can follow the Tahirih Justice Center on Facebook, @TahirihJustice on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube Channel. The Greater DC Office can also be reached by phone at 571-282-6161

Filed Under: Inside Scoop, TV Shows, Virginia, Women Tagged With: Adriana López, Anusce Sanai, Casey Carter-Swegman, child marriage, Do They Hear You When You Cry, domestic abuse, Fauziya Kassindja, female genital mutilation, gender based persecution, human trafficking, Immigration, Jennifer McClellan, Jill Vogel, Layli Miller-Muro, pro-bono legal work, rape, sex trafficking, Tahirih Justice Center

by Catherine Read

Virginia’s Fight for Non-Partisan Redistricting – Inside Scoop

(Feb. 13) Catherine Read talks with Olga Hernandez of the League of Women Voters in Fairfax, VA. Olga was previously president of the League of Women Voters of Virginia and has been deeply involved in the fight for non-partisan redistricting for decades. The LWV is currently working in collaboration with the non-profit OneVirginia2021 to educate the voting public about the issue of “gerrymandering” – the process by which the legislature draws district lines to pack voters into districts that ensure incumbents keep their seats year after year. The drawing of district lines happens every 10 years following the U.S. Census, which provides the population data that is the primary criteria for creating the districts. The next redrawing in Virginia will be in the year 2021 – which will coincide with a Governor’s race and the re-election of all 100 House of Delegate seats.

In 2015, the last election where all 100 House of Delegates seats were up for re-election, $45 million dollars was spent in Virginia and nothing changed. Every single incumbent was re-elected to office and many seats went uncontested all together. Brian Cannon, Executive Director of OneVirginia2021, is leading the fight to bring attention to the issue. A recently released documentary entitled “GerryRIGGED” is being shown around the Commonwealth of Virginia. Olga Hernandez has organized three showings on Thursday, Feb. 23rd – one at the Greenspring Retirement Community in Springfield, and two sold out showings at Cinema Arts in Fairfax City. The documentary is available on DVD and organizations around the state have an opportunity to bring this issue to the public.

The documentary “GerryRIGGED” interviews legislators and elected officials from both political parties. Democrats and Republicans have both contributed to this untenable state of affairs in Virginia and the practice goes all the way back to Patrick Henry who promoted redrawing a district line in order to block the political ascension of James Madison.

Delegate Ken Plum has introduced legislation in the House of Delegates every year since 1982 (when Democrats controlled the House) and every year such bills have been defeated.  In recent years, bills on non-partisan redistricting have been passed out of the Senate only to be killed in subcommittee hearings in the House. Three bills passed out of the Senate this month sponsored by Senators in both parties, including SJ 290 sponsored by Senator Janet Howell (D) and Senator Jill Vogel (R). Those bills were killed by a vote of 5-2 at an Election subcommittee hearing held at 7 am on Feb. 14th, despite the testimony of the sponsoring Senators. Senator Jill Vogel made her case at a press conference the day before, but to no avail.

GerryRigged Virginia
Congressional Races in Virginia 2012

The mission of OneVirginia2021 is to “advocate for the adoption of an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that will establish an independent, impartial commission to apply a fair and transparent process in drawing political districts after the 2020 census.”

While the efforts to amend our state constitution is a long slow process, OneVirginia2021 is also pursuing relief through the courts. There is a case pending that is asking the court to hold the legislature to the standard currently set by the Virginia Constitution which clearly states that “Every electoral district shall be composed of contiguous and compact territory . . .”  Follow updates to that case at http://www.onevirginia2021.org/compact/

Non-Partisan redistricting is a goal we must strive to reach if Virginians want better government. The hyper-partisanship and political gridlock threatens our ability to create good public policy. It’s not the biggest problem we need to solve, but it’s the first problem we need to solve in order to solve all the other ones.

The League of Women Voters continues to work on the issue of bringing non-partisan redistricting to Virginia. Organizations across the Commonwealth are reaching out to OneVirginia2021 to help educate voters about the impact of gerrymandering on good government.

For more information or to obtain the documentary GerryRIGGED email [email protected] and follow them on Twitter at @1VA2021.

Filed Under: Blogging, Inside Scoop, Political, TV Shows, Virginia Tagged With: Brian Cannon, Gerrymandering, GerryRIGGED, House of Delegates, Janet Howell, Jill Vogel, Ken Plum, League of Women Voters, Non-Partisan Redistricting, Olga Hernandez, OneVirginia2021, Virginia

Catherine S. Read
I believe in the power of community and the ability of one person to make a difference.

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