(VOA) Sara Tasneem, 37, once had big plans for her future.
“When I was a freshman in high school,” she said. “I had made a decision that I wanted to join the Air Force and go to law school.”
Instead, Tasneem’s American-born father gave her to a man to be married.
Tasneem, who was 15, was visiting her father during the summer recess. Normally she lived with her mom.
“My dad had become involved in a very … it’s basically kind of like a cult. It’s separate from the religion of Islam; it’s different in its practices and beliefs,” Tasneem continued. Tasneem is not her real name, but one she used to protect her identity. “Growing up in the group, it was your role as a girl that you would just be a wife and a mom.”
