A Tennessee woman, Gina Ehsani, has paid over $16,000 of her own money to maintain GPS monitoring of her ex-husband Pejhman after he repeatedly violated a court-ordered protection order against him. When the court initially required him to wear an electronic tag, he later declared himself indigent and unable to pay; rather than have the monitoring removed, Ehsani decided to pay $330 monthly herself to protect her safety and that of her children. At his latest hearing, Pejhman's bond was removed and he pleaded guilty to four counts of violating the protection order, facing up to three years in prison.

The case highlights a significant gap in Tennessee's victim protection system. Ehsani obtained her initial protection order in June 2020 after Pejhman filed for divorce and subsequently violated it multiple times between 2021 and 2024 through unwanted contact, visits and messages. Although the state's Debbie and Marie Domestic Violence Protection Act was intended to fund electronic monitoring when defendants cannot afford it, amendments clarify that defendants are ineligible for such assistance regardless of indigency status. Ehsani stated she foregoes family holidays and tightens her household budget to maintain the monitoring, which alerts her if her ex-husband comes within 1,000 feet of her—a safeguard she considers essential despite the substantial financial burden.