Guest Info
Naila Amin is a student and activist who holds a degree in Human Services and founded the Naila Amin Foundation at age twenty-six. She was born in Pakistan and later relocated to the USA. She has plans to open the first shelter in the U.S. to house girls who are victims of forced marriages and honour-based violence.
Naila was a victim of child marriage and suffered life-changing abuse at her husband’s hands, including rape, torture, and psychological torment. She was a topic of discussion in newspapers when the U.S. Embassy decided to intervene and save her life. Naila had also worked with Assemblyman Philip Ramos to pass the Bright Line Bill, which increased the marriageable age of a young woman to 18. The law was named after her. She had a massive role in the campaigning for New Jersey to end child marriages and closed the loopholes in the American Immigrant system related to this.
Naila Amin, a dedicated advocate for child rights, is a prominent figure in documentaries and tirelessly pursues her dream of making America a safe haven for young women. As the Global Indian Ambassador for child rights in the USA, she remains committed to her cause.
About the Show
In this eye-opening podcast episode, Rajan Nazran is in conversation with Naila Amin, who is a child marriage survivor and now works in Social Services to provide a better present-day for the kids.
Naila Amin was a Pakistani girl who moved to the US at the age of four. From the very tender age of eight, she had started to get hunted by the rigorous traditions of a Pashtun family. She had started to rebel from a young age, and the trauma associated with her forced marriage was intense enough to bring down many people. She was on the run for years between her house, foster homes, her ex-husband’s house, and countless other places.
Naila had been struggling on her own with no one to cater to her needs except for the sole relief of America having her back in the end. There was a situation when her father had decided to blow her brains out as she went outside unaccompanied by a man, which resulted in her being slapped with the term of being a ‘Loose woman.’ After this, she was physically abused and raped multiple times on multiple days by her ex-husband.
The years of frantic chaos equipped her with the strength required to fight to stop child and forced marriages which resulted in a favourable bill being passed in New Jersey and, later, NewYork.
This podcast may be disturbing, but it is essential to grasp the kind of heinous acts that are being done worldwide.
Produced by Global Indian Series for the Global Indian Network.
Script by Rajan Nazran
original idea: Rajan Nazran
Introduction music:
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