History of Abely Honorees

Sanctuary for Families

The Abely Award for Leading Women and Children to Safety The Abely Pro Bono Leadership

The Abely Award for Leading Women and Children to Safety

Join us this October at the 2022 Abely Awards.

Since 1997, the Abely Award for Leading Women and Children to Safety has been presented annually to a person who has made a difference in the lives of survivors of domestic violence and sex trafficking and who shares the compassion, zeal, energy, and dedication for which we remember Maryellen Abely.

Previous recipients of the award are:

2019 The Honorable Toko Serita, Presiding Judge, Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court

2018 The Honorable Amiena Khan, Executive Vice President, National Association of Immigration Judges

2017 Ronnie Eldridge, Government & Community Social Justice Leader & Journalist

2016 The Honorable Robert A. Katzmann, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

2015 The Honorable Loretta Lynch, United States Attorney General, and the Honorable Pamela K. Chen, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

2014 The Honorable Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York County

2013 The Honorable Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the State of New York

2012 Sarah Buel, Faculty Director, Diane Halle Center for Family Justice; Clinical Professor of Law, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

2011 The Honorable Edwina G. Richardson-Mendelson, Administrative Judge for the Family Court of the City of New York

2010 The Honorable Carolyn B. Maloney, United States Representative, New York’s 14th District

2009 Casey Gwinn, President, National Family Justice Center Alliance

2008 Teresa Columba Ulloa Ziáurriz, Regional Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Maestra María Guadalupe Morfín Otero, Special District Attorney for Violent Crimes Against Women for the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico

2007 The Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

2006 The Honorable Denny Chin, Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

2005 The Honorable Betty Weinberg Ellerin, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Department

2004 The Honorable Judy Harris Kluger, Chief of Policy and Planning for the New York State Office of Court Administration

2003 The late Honorable Paul Wellstone, United States Senator, and the late Sheila Wellstone, domestic violence victims advocate (posthumously presented)

2002 The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

2001 The Honorable Sheldon Silver, New York State Assembly Speaker

2000 The Honorable Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator

1999 The Honorable Helene Weinstein, New York State Assemblywoman

1998 The Honorable Kathryn A. McDonald, Administrative Judge of New York City Family Court, and Patricia Eng, founder and Executive Director of the New York Asian Women’s Center

1997 The Honorable Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York

The Abely Pro Bono Leadership Award

Created in 2001, the Abely Pro Bono Leadership Award recognizes the contributions of the extraordinarily dedicated attorneys who have consistently demonstrated professional commitments to improving the lives of Sanctuary’s clients.

Previous recipients of the award are:

2019 William C. Silverman, Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP

2018 Joel Kurtzberg, Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP

 2017 Richard Rothman, Senior Counsel, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

 2016 Sharon Katz, Special Counsel for Pro Bono, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

 2015 Jennifer L. Kroman, Director of Pro Bono Practice, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

 2014 Brenna K. DeVaney, Pro Bono Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

 2013 Samidh Guha, Partner, Akin Gump LLP

 2012 Harlene Katzman, Pro Bono Counsel and Director, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

 2011 Josephine Lea Iselin, Attorney Emeritus, and Jill Crawley Griset, Partner, and Matt Pearson, Associate, McGuireWoods LLP

 2010 Jill M. Zuccardy, Partner, Lansner Kubitschek Schaffer & Zuccardy

 2009 Hannah M. Pennington, former Associate, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

 2008 Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, accepted by Sharon Katz, Special Counsel for Pro Bono

2007 Cynthia B. Rubin, Partner, Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer LLP

 2006 Claudia L. Hammerman and Robyn F. Tarnofsky, Partners, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

 2005 Mary Rothwell Davis, Volunteer Appellate Counsel, Sanctuary for Families’ CBWLS

 2004 Saralyn M. Cohen, Pro Bono Counsel, Shearman & Sterling LLP 2003 Ellen P. Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives, Columbia Law School

 2003 Ellen P. Chapnick, Dean for Social Justice Initiatives, Columbia Law School

 2002 Nora von Stange, former Associate, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

 2001 Nancy L. Lazar, former Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

The Maryellen Abely Fellowship

The Maryellen Abely Fellowship, underwritten by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, funds a summer internship at Sanctuary’s Legal Center and is given annually to a Columbia Law School student who is committed to working with victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking.

Fellowship recipients include:

2019 Shuxin Qian

2018 Ammar Monawar

2017 Yiqing Shi

2016 Christina Zhang

2015 Whitney Hood

2014 Alexandra Swain

2013 Rosie Wang

2012 Alicia Lobeiras

2011 Sayoni Maitra

2010 Joy Ziegeweid

2009 Frances Kelly

2008 Mia Robertshaw

2007 Emma Glazer

2006 Carla Martinez

2005 Anya Emerson

2004 Yiwen Ouyang

2003 Erin Dougherty

2002 Alexander Karam

2001 Galen Sherwin

2000 Anne E. Glatz

1999 Rachel Wilgoren

1998 Deborah L. Fine

1997 Nihara Karim Choudhri

1996 Hilary Sunghee Seo

Special Awards

In 2005, a special Abely Leadership Award was given to Mary Ann Mailman in honor of her extraordinary contributions to Sanctuary for Families. Ms. Mailman is a past president of Sanctuary’s Board of Directors and a current member of Sanctuary’s President’s Council. She is a founder and active member of Sanctuary’s Legal Advisory Council and served as Co-chair until September 1, 2010.

In 2018, a special Abely Award for Extraordinary Service was presented to Kathleen Kundar for her years of devotion to Sanctuary for Families. As co-chair of the Legal Advisory Council for 12 years, Kathleen championed Sanctuary’s work, assisted our clients, and strengthened our Legal Center resources.

“Freedom is not a state, it is an act”

Sanctuary for Families

Our statement on the passing of Rep. John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian.

On Friday we lost two pillars of the Civil Rights Movement – Rep. John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian. At Sanctuary for Families, we mourn the loss of these brave men who transformed our country through their love, compassion, and unyielding commitment to racial justice.

Our mission of ending gender-based violence is inextricably linked to the fight for racial equity. Here in New York City, we see how forces like housing segregation, underfunded schools, inequitable health care, police brutality, and unconscious bias in social services converge. These systems oppress Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, creating the circumstances that too often engender abuse and exploitation.

The work of Rep. John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian and the Movement for Black Lives must continue. Words alone are not enough when it comes to honoring these freedom fighters. Here’s what we can all do:

1. VOTE

Rep. John Lewis said, “Do your part and vote like you’ve never voted before. Believe in the power of love and together we will build the Beloved Community here in America.” Visit Vote Save America to register or make sure you’re registered, then check with your friends to make sure they’re ready for November as well.

2. READ & WATCH

Learn more about Rep. John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian, their values and their legacies: The Atlantic – John Lewis was an American Founder, The New York Times – John Lewis Risked his Life for Justice, and OWN: A Tribute to Reverend C.T. Vivian

3. COMPLETE THE CENSUS

From the “three-fifths” compromise, continuing through the Jim Crow era, to today, the census has historically been weaponized to deprive critical federal funding to Black and Brown communities. Fill out your census and consider exploring ways you can support NYC census efforts which have been hampered by the pandemic.

Sanctuary for Families joins in mourning the passing of Rep. John Lewis and Rev. C.T. Vivian this week and we send out condolences to all who were fortunate to know them personally. As we strive to build a world in which freedom from gender violence is a basic human right, we remember the words of Rep. John Lewis who said, “Freedom is not a state, it is an act.” With your support, our fight for freedom continues.

ACTION ALERT: Stop the Trump Administration from Eliminating Asylum

Sanctuary for Families

Act now to make sure immigrant survivors can continue building lives free from violence in the United States.

Our sincere gratitude goes out to everyone who took action in defense of asylum and to Chapman and Cutler LLP for assisting Sanctuary in submitting a detailed comment to DHS & DOJ.

The Trump administration has just proposed regulations that would effectively eliminate gender-based asylum claims, prohibiting individuals fleeing domestic violence, human trafficking, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, anti-LGBTQ violence, and other forms of gender-based persecution from seeking safe haven in the United States. By codifying into federal law its numerous and sprawling anti-asylum policies, these rules represent the most consequential attempt by this administration to dismantle asylum protection for the most vulnerable survivors.

Relying on the decision in Matter of A-B- by Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the rules propose a change to the very definition of “refugee”— a crucial protection created under international law and enshrined in the Immigration and Nationality Act. The rules further eliminate any possibility of protection for survivors of domestic violence and anti-LGBTQ violence by framing such violence as “private criminal acts” or “interpersonal disputes.”

At Sanctuary, we work with gender violence survivors, 70% of whom are immigrants. Many are seeking asylum due to extreme intimate partner violence, female genital mutilation (FGM), and/or death threats they experienced in their home countries. 

Click here to learn more about our work or continue reading for instructions on how to push back on the Trump administration’s latest effort.

The proposed asylum rule represents an unconscionable attack on our clients and others seeking humanitarian protections to escape violence, protect themselves and their families, and work towards a new life. With assistance from Chapman and Cutler LLP, Sanctuary submitted a detailed comment urging the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw the proposed rules in their entirety.

HOW TO SUBMIT A COMMENT

Our friends at Immigration Equality have created an Individual action takers guide that includes sample comments asking DHS and DOJ to withdraw the proposed rule. All you need to do is personalize the sample comment and briefly explain, in your own voice, why the U.S. must preserve access to protection for all asylum seekers, including survivors of gender-based violence. Comments must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on Wed. July 15. 

SUBMIT A COMMENT NOW 

Please, DO NOT copy and submit the sample comment as it is—The U.S. government is required by law to review and respond to unique comments only. We strongly encourage you to personalize your message so that it speaks to your own individual and/or professional experiences.  

You can also find visit the Interfaith Immigration Coalition’s asylum rule web-hub to find detailed templates specifically geared towards attorneys and legal service providers by the Tahirih Justice Center, National Immigrant Justice Center, Immigration Equality, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), among others representing specific perspectives (e.g., templates from the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors for domestic violence/sexual assault advocates, from the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights for children’s advocates, from Physicians for Human Rights for health professionals, and from the Coalition to End Violence Against Women taking a U.S. foreign policy angle).

SANCTUARY’S IMMIGRATION WORK

For over 30 years, Sanctuary for Families has served and advocated for survivors of gender violence regardless of immigration status, offering the highest quality of legal representation to clients in order to protect their right to due process.

In the face of Matter of A-B– and other anti-immigrant policies, Sanctuary’s Immigration Intervention Project has led the field in fighting for our clients and other survivors of gender-based violence, advancing—and winning—asylum claims on their behalf based on theories of feminist political opinion. Take, for example, our client Ms. O-T-, a Honduran woman who testified before a judge at the New York Immigration Court in the fall of 2019.

Ms. O-T-‘s Story

As a young woman from a rural village in Guatemala who was removed from school at the age of 9 and who spoke little Spanish and no English, Ms. O-T’s pro se I-589 application demonstrated little to no understanding of the legal framework underlying her valid claim for asylum, let alone the type of evidence supportive of her claim.  With the help of Sanctuary counsel, Ms. O-T- was able to testify to the court not just about the severity of the harm she experienced at the hands of her husband, but also about the many ways her individual actions expressing independence from both her husband and the patriarchal community to which she belonged prompted increased violence and threats to her body and her life.

For the first time since entering the United States and asking for asylum protection, Ms. O-T- felt liberated to tell her story simply and directly. Her testimony—sincere and succinct, and punctuated by moments of emotional release—served to assist the judge in ascertaining not just the factual elements underlying her claim for asylum but also her credibility as a witness. Even the government’s cross-examination of her testimony served to solidify her claim as she further clarified some of the more complicated aspects of her experience as a survivor.  The court’s ultimate finding—that this young woman was persecuted by her partner because of her feminist political opinion—would have been impossible under the Proposed Regulation since it allows for the pretermission of an asylum application that does not, on its face, present a legally cognizable claim for asylum.

Taking Action for Our Clients

Sanctuary’s immigration team has consistently, and with success, argued before the immigration courts and the asylum office about the importance of country conditions evidence in framing our client’s claim for asylum within a specific cultural and political context. The Proposed Rules would bar consideration of such evidence, ignoring the reality that persecution of an individual cannot be considered in a vacuum and must be looked within the context of wider societal realities remains.

Now more than ever, we stand committed to pushing back against the incremental erosion of the rights of immigrant survivors seeking protection in this country. Please join us by taking action today.

SUBMIT COMMENT NOW

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Learn more about our recent immigration advocacy efforts here.

A Victory in Our Fight For New Yorkers’ Equal Access to Justice

Sanctuary for Families

Judge Rakoff’s ruling on ICE arrests at courthouses is a triumphant and long-awaited moment for immigrants, including many of the gender violence survivors we serve, and advocates across our State.

Last week, Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests at courthouses in New York State are illegal. This is a triumphant and long-awaited moment for immigrants, including many of the gender violence survivors we serve, and advocates across our State.

Sanctuary staff at an “ICE Out Of Courts” rally in 2017.

ICE’s presence in our courthouses began to increase following the election of President Trump. From January 2017 through December 2018, ICE arrests increased by 1700%. Nearly 75% of our clients at Sanctuary are immigrants and many expressed deep fear of seeking help, reporting crimes, or moving around in public. Gender violence survivors were faced with an impossible choice between ensuring their physical safety and the possibility of deportation.

As arrests increased, advocates across New York responded. Sanctuary for Families joined several leading immigrant service providers to form the ICE Out of the Courts Coalition and contributed to a shocking report on the rise of ICE arrests. Together, our coalition lobbied for the Protect Our Courts Act. While our legislative efforts were unsuccessful, Sanctuary was instrumental in convincing the New York State Office of Court Administration to issue a court order requiring a warrant for any arrest on court property in April 2019. Despite the order, however, arrests continued to increase.

In September 2019, we turned to the courts. Sanctuary for Families joined Make the Road New York, Urban Justice Center, The Door, and New York Immigration Coalition as plaintiffs in a case brought by The Legal Aid Society and Cleary Gottlieb. Our lawsuit sought a halt to ICE courthouse enforcement on behalf of a noncitizen domestic violence survivor who needed to appear in court in order to secure an order of protection but who feared the possibility of ICE arrest. Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez filed a second lawsuit arguing that ICE enforcement in and around courthouses was a threat to public safety and impeded the administration of justice.

Sanctuary ED Judy H. Kluger announces lawsuit against ICE.

Judge Rakoff’s decision in the lawsuit brought by AG James and DA Gonzalez ensures the access of those most in need of the court’s protection and preserves the sanctity of our system of justice for those who are vulnerable. At a time when victories on immigrant rights are few and far between, we are grateful for the fellowship of our amazing partner agencies, AG James and DA Gonzalez, and immensely proud of the attorneys and clinicians at Sanctuary who support and advocate for immigrant survivors every day.