Men who refuse to file for their wives' immigration papers can use the legal limbo to exact obedience. The threat to have the women deported is more intimidating if the husbands have such photos. One woman went back to Iran with her husband, not knowing he had sent such photos home, and was given a public beating by a religious committee when she stepped off the plane, said Daliah Setareh, now a lawyer in the East Community Office of the Legal Aid Foundation. Setareh is helping Nili legalize her immigration status under the 1994 federal Violence Against Women Act. She keeps her story to herself.
Domestic violence is still a hush-hush issue in the Middle East.
Women who come forward and speak out against their husbands are seen as violating the sanctity of the family. That's why many would rather suffer in silence at home. Times researchers Scott Wilson, Peter Johnson, Julia Franco, William Holmes, Robin Mayper and Steve Tice contributed to this story.