On June 11, 2025 Coptic Solidarity co-hosted a Congressional briefing with Jubilee Campaign, Canadian Yazidi Association, and the Assyrian International Council titled Gendered Persecution: Targets of Forced Conversion which was hosted in the Longworth House Office Building. Below you can watch presentations by each of the witnesses.
Moderator: Karmella Borashan – Director at Susek Evangelistic Association; Representative of Assyrian International Council
Speakers:
Stephen Schneck, Ph.D – Commissioner, US Commission on International Religious Freedom who stated that the US government must continue to combat restrictions on religious freedom abroad, especially in countries that justify sexually and gender-based violence on religious grounds, and stressed that women should be able to interpret publicly and express or live out their religious beliefs in all aspects of their lives, including marriage and divorce, bodily autonomy, speech, education, and dress.
US Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) shared that “Just yesterday, the Ambassador of Egypt was in my office. I had the opportunity to discuss with him how we need to focus on the treatment of Coptic Christians in Egypt. Obviously, the current government is much better than the Muslim brotherhood than Mohamed Morsi, but that is not the standard by which the Egyptian government should be judged. We need to see a more and quicker approval of applications to build and renovate Churches. We also need to focus on stories like Saad Thabet who was mistreated in her own village.”
Christeen Ghobrial – Coptic Survivor and Witness
Coptic Solidarity was able to bring a Coptic survivor to testify about her personal experience of sexual abuse and efforts to forcibly convert her which started at age 14. Her experience closely mirrors the findings of our new report down to the details of her fencing team mates staging a photo opportunity of her with a head-covering (which they put on her head under the guise of being cold outside) and this picture later turned up on a new ID card with a new Muslim name and identity that the abuser gave her. In retrospect, she can see how her abuser had high-level access to information about her from the time he first raped her at age 14, through several moves to University and later to a career, and changing all contact information, he would still show up and continue threating her and her family. Christeen is now in the US seeking religious asylum. This was the first time to share her story publicly, and she did so with poise, under incredible pressure. Having a witness share about the crime of forcible conversion, accompanied by sexual abuse and often disappearance, was incredibly impactful, and gave a face to the suffering that other speakers shared.
Jamileh Naso – Co-founder & Executive Director, Canadian Yazidi Associationamileh Naso, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Yazidi Association shared that there are still about 2,500 missing Yezidi women who were abducted during the rule of ISIS. Despite the location of many of these women being known, there is a complete lack of political will to work for their return.
Joseph Janssen – Advocacy Officer with Jubilee Campaign Netherlands and Voice for Justice discussed the recently released report focused on Pakistan, Conversion without Consent.
Sonja Dahlmans – Author of Coptic Solidarity’s latest report, Hidden Crimes Public Deception: The Epidemic of Abductions and Forced Disappearance of Coptic Women and Girls discussed her findings.
