Our mission

Our mission is to create a world where women and girls enjoy equality and live in safety and with dignity.

What we do

Legal Services:

We protect immigrant women and girls who live in the United States and have a legitimate claim to legal status under U.S. immigration law as survivors of gender-based violence.

Tahirih's holistic, client-centered legal services include screening, assessment, counsel and advice, and/or full-scale legal representation. Our staff are experts in the areas of:

Gender-based asylum (for individuals who have suffered or fear that they will suffer persecution in their home country)
Violence Against Women's Act Petitions (for battered spouses, parents, and/or children)
T Visas (for survivors of trafficking)
U Visas (for survivors of certain types of crimes on U.S. soil)
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (for abused, abandoned, or neglected children)

Our clients receive culturally sensitive, trauma-informed legal representation from the start to the finish of a case. Many of our clients have obstacles to safety and stability that can't be remedied in immigration courts alone. We meet these needs by offering holistic services--providing wrap-around social services case management and representation in family court, where we are able.

To increase the number of women and girls we protect, we rely on help from attorneys in our Pro Bono Network. Together, we maintain a 99% litigation success rate, despite the complex nature of our cases. We accept cases that others have deemed "unwinnable" and proudly pioneer in uncharted areas of the law.

Social Services:

We connect our clients to social services and other vital resources in their neighborhoods and in their languages.

By providing social services to our clients, we help them stabilize their day-to-day lives and promote their safety and well-being as they pursue justice in the legal system.

During this period of uncertainty, our clients often need access to:

Food pantries;
Emergency shelters and housing;
Medical services and medical debt forgiveness programs;
Public benefits;
Employment services;
English and vocational classes; and
Referrals for legal services that are outside our scope.

In addition to addressing our clients' immediate physical needs, we also prioritize their mental and emotional well-being by providing regular:

Safety planning;
Supportive counseling; and
Mental health screenings.

We also conduct outreach and training, in partnership with the communities we serve and other advocates, to increase immigrant women and girls' access to culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed services. To this end, our social services staff participate in a number of regional coalitions and help inform our local and national advocacy efforts.

Working from a client-centered, strengths-based perspective, our ultimate goal in our social services programs is to empower our clients to make thoughtful and life-fulfilling decisions that help them to achieve stable, violence-free futures for themselves and their families.

Policy Advocacy:

Supporting one woman or girl at a time is not enough. To ensure that immigrant women and girls in the U.S. can live in safety and with dignity, we must change the laws, policies, and norms that leave them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

We work to correct flaws and close gaps in the U.S. justice system, so that immigrant women and girls are less vulnerable to violence and exploitation.

Administrative Advocacy:
We engage with the White House and federal agencies to pursue policies that address violence against immigrant women and girls and ensure they are fully and appropriately implemented.

Legislative Action:
We advance bills that would improve protections for immigrant women and girls and defend against measures that would diminish their ability to live in safety and dignity.

Impact Litigation:
We change the law through strategic use of the courts in partnership with colleague organizations and law firms working on a pro bono basis.

Media Engagement:
We inform public debate on immigration and violence against women and elevate policymakers' understanding through online, print, radio, and television news sources.


Movement Building:
We identify and mobilize a broad base of allies to fight for the safety of immigrant women and girls through education, outreach, and public engagement.


Coalition Leadership:
We connect, consult, and collaborate with advocates from around the country to ensure that diverse and marginalized voices are taken into account by law makers.