Miller-Muro founded the organization in 1997 following her involvement in "Matter of Kasinga", a high-profile case that set national precedent and changed asylum law in the United States. Fauziya Kassindja, a 17-year-old girl who had fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation, was granted asylum in 1996 by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals. This decision opened the door to recognizing gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum. Using her portion of the proceeds from a book she and Kassindja co-authored about the case ("Do They Hear You When You Cry?" Delacorte Press, 1998), Miller-Muro established Tahirih.