Layli Miller-Muro

Layli Miller-Muro is an American attorney and activist. She is the founder and Executive Director of Tahirih Justice Center, a national non-profit dedicated to protecting women from human rights abuses such as rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, domestic violence, human trafficking, and forced marriage. Tahirih’s holistic model for protection combines free legal services and social services case management with public policy advocacy, education, and outreach.

Miller-Muro founded the organization in 1997 following her involvement in Matter of Kasinga, a high-profile case that set national precedent and changed asylum law in the United States. Fauziya Kassindja, a 17-year-old girl who had fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation, was granted asylum in 1996 by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. This decision opened the door to recognizing gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum. Using her portion of the proceeds from a book she and Kassindja co-authored about the case (Do They Hear You When You Cry? Delacorte Press, 1998), Miller-Muro established Tahirih.

Since 2001, Miller-Muro has led Tahirih in its service to over 19,000 women and children, growing the non-profit from a staff of 6 to over 50, and expanding its offices from Greater DC to Houston and Baltimore. In recognition of its sound management and innovative programs, under Miller-Muro’s leadership, Tahirih won The Washington Post Award for Management Excellence and gained recognition for its innovative use of pro bono services in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

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