By Cheryl Bigos, Senior Attorney
Clarissa (fictitious name) was born in Egypt where she worked as an anesthesiologist. In 2012 she met and married her husband, Joe (fictitious name), and left with him to start a life in the United States (US). Having worked as a physician in Egypt, Clarissa was hoping to take the required classes so she could learn English and obtain her medical license in the US.
Controlling behavior and threats
Shortly after arriving, Joe began to control her. He took her passport, birth certificate, and green card from her. After their son was born, she was not allowed to leave the house without his permission. Clarissa was not allowed to work or go back to school and had to rely on him to pay for groceries, clothing, and the rent. On one occasion in which police were involved, he abducted their son, and he abandoned her in Egypt with no documentation for two months. Joe took out credit cards in her name without her knowledge and ran up debt totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Throughout their marriage, Joe threatened to take the child away from her.
Persevering through four years of harassment
After Clarissa obtained a restraining order and their divorce was finalized, Joe spent four years using the court system to harass her by filing request after request that had no legal merit. Having to rely on public benefits, she qualified for assistance under the CalWORKs program. We assisted her in maintaining sole legal and sole physical custody of their son and an order that Joe is not allowed to file more requests at court without the judge’s advance permission. Ultimately, Clarissa was granted permission to move out of California with her son to a state where she is finally pursuing her goal towards a career in medicine.
