Unchained provides crucial, wraparound, often life-saving direct services to individuals, primarily women and girls, who are fleeing from an arranged/forced marriage or resisting an impending coerced marriage. All the services are intended to support individuals as they not only escape from their current situation but also rebuild their lives, often after their families have shunned them or forced them into hiding.
Reach out directly to Unchained to get help here.
Unchained never charges clients for its unique array of legal, social and financial services, which include:
- Planning and implementation of escapes – including international escapes, in conjunction with federal agencies, for individuals taken overseas for a forced marriage;
- Finding emergency shelter, supporting clients’ transition from a shelter to their new home and providing resources to prevent homelessness;
- Free legal representation from pro bono attorneys who handle divorce, child custody, immigration, name change (under seal) and other complex matters;
- Transportation and accompaniment to court appearances, doctor and lawyer visits and other stressful appointments;
- Career counseling and financial coaching to support survivors in achieving financial independence;
- Psychotherapy, mentoring from other clients who have found safety and stability and emotional support, including support groups, with the help of our trained facility dog;
- Emergency financial assistance for urgent needs such as plane tickets (for clients escaping from a forced marriage overseas), food and winter coats; and
- Annual client retreats for a day of fun (typically at a theme park or a Broadway show).
As the New York Times reported in March 2015: “Because the clients’ situations can be so catastrophic — forced at gunpoint to accept a marriage, raped by a husband, essentially imprisoned within the home as a domestic servant — Unchained At Last also provides mentoring, access to therapy and cash stipends for everything from basic clothing to English as a second language class.”