Panel to Examine Protection of Women and Children Fleeing Persecution

Actor Sam Waterson, Human Rights Leaders to Outline Needed Policy Reforms

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Washington, DC – Award-winning actor Sam Waterson and three of the nation’s top human rights advocates will address U.S. policies and practices impacting access to asylum protection for women and children fleeing persecution during a Capitol Hill briefing on Sept. 30, 2009. Co-sponsored by Human Rights First, Tahirih Justice Center, and Women’s Refugee Commission, the event will feature panelists taking a critical look at the state of U.S. policy towards women and girls fleeing gender-based persecution and how some of those policies are preventing these asylum seekers from finding the protection they need and deserve.

Among the topics examined during the briefing will be the challenges of current immigration laws and policies of general application to all asylum seekers, including the arbitrary bar to asylum imposed by the one-year filing deadline, lack of safeguards in the expedited removal process, and restrictive detention policies without access to review by an immigration judge. The event will also feature a Tahirih Justice Center client’s first-hand look at the implications of these regulations and her experience fleeing gender-based persecution and seeking asylum in the United States.

Waterson, who is a Board Member of Refugees International, will offer opening remarks and a special tribute to the legacy of Refugees International President Kenneth Bacon, who passed away in August.

This event is open to the press. For additional information, please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at (202) 370-3323 or bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org. Please write policy@tahirih.org to RSVP for this event.

WHAT:           “Precarious Protection: How Unsettled Policy and Current Laws Harm Women

and Girls Fleeing Persecution”

WHO:             Sam Waterson, Award-Winning Actor and Human Rights Activist

                        Jeanne Smoot, Director of Public Policy, Tahirih Justice Center

                        Annie Sovcik, Advocacy Counsel, Human Rights First

                        Emily Butera, Program Officer, Women’s Refugee Commission

                        Tahirih Justice Center Gender-Based Persecution Asylum Client

WHEN:           Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 – 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

WHERE:        Gold Room, Rayburn House Office Building

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