Some 40 guests joined the Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative and Unchained at Last tonight in New York City for a screening of the film DIFRET, followed by cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton generously hosted the event to benefit Unchained, the only nonprofit in the US dedicated to helping women and girls leave or avoid arranged/forced marriages.
From executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt, the award-winning drama DIFRET is based on the true story of 14-year-old Hirut, who is abducted in her Ethiopian village’s tradition of kidnapping girls for marriage. She fights back, accidentally killing her captor and intended husband. Local law demands a death sentence for Hirut, but Meaza, a tough lawyer from a women’s legal-aid practice, steps in to fight for Hirut and against a deeply rooted tradition.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is an international law firm with 18 offices and some 550 attorneys that is particularly well known for its intellectual-property practice. The firm, which has won numerous awards for community service, has shown exceptional generosity to Unchained: A team of Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys recently represented an Unchained client pro bono through her divorce proceeding, as she fled an arranged marriage.
The Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative is focused on driving the growth of the firm’s business, building the firm’s talent pipeline and assuring the inclusion of women at the firm. Unchained is deeply grateful to the Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative for hosting this film-and-fundraising event to benefit Unchained.