United States’ child marriage problem
Child marriage — or marriage before age 18 — remains legal in most of the U.S. And it is happening at an alarming rate: According to research from Unchained At Last, nearly 300,000 children, some as young as 10, were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018. Most were girls wed to adult men.
Child marriage creates a nightmarish legal trap, due to minors’ limited legal rights. They cannot easily leave home, enter a domestic violence shelter, retain an attorney or even file for divorce. Further, child marriage is recognized as a human rights abuse that destroys nearly every aspect of an American girl’s life.
And child marriage undermines statutory rape laws: At least 60,000 marriages in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 occurred at an age or with a spousal age difference that should have been considered a sex crime.
National Coalition to End Child Marriage in the U.S.
Unchained At Last and Equality Now have convened the National Coalition to End Child Marriage in the United States to bring together organizations and individuals determined to end child marriage in the U.S.
The mission of the coalition is to end all marriage before age 18 in the U.S., without exception. The coalition pursues various approaches in pursuit of this mission, including:
- Amending the federal laws that encourage child marriage; and
- Supporting state-level advocacy to set a marriage age of 18, no exceptions, in every U.S. state.
All civil society organizations that are committed to ending child marriage in the United States and agree with the coalition’s mission, including Girls Not Brides members, are invited to join the coalition. Survivors of child marriage also are invited to join.
Message for survivors of child marriage: Whether or not you join the National Coalition to End Child Marriage, you can contact Unchained At Last here to get support.
Co-convenors
Steering Committee
Jennifer Bradbury,
child marriage survivor
Patricia Abatemarco,
child marriage survivor
Sara Tasneem,
child marriage survivor
Organization Allies
ALEPH
American Medical Women’s Association
Break The Silence
Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network
Children’s Service Society
DANDOR
Ekahi Aloha
Girls Not Brides
Illinois Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Association
Katie Poirier Legislative Coalition for Victim’s Rights
K-mor Ministries
Knots: A Forced Marriage Story
Lawyers for Good Government
LifeWay Network
Mainstay REdefined
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Women’s Law Center
Nurses Against Human Trafficking
Paladin Project
Post Mormon Ladies Group
Reproductive Rights Coalition
Respect Our Health LLC
Secular AZ
Social Work in Progress
Soroptimist International of the Americas
St Francis Justice & Peace Group
Stella’s Girls, Inc.
Students Against Child Marriage
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP Network)
SWLA Abolitionists
The Shafilea Ahmed Forum
UNICEF UNITE
Uniquely Different
Veterans Against Pedophilia
Women’s March LA
Worker Justice Center of New York
YWCA
Survivor Allies
Aliya Abbas
Amanda Latham-Miller
Angie Sparks
April Lynn Olinger
April S. Kelley
Asuma J. Jalloh
Barbara Kitchens
Beth Ann Bird
Billie Jean Ove
Bonnie Randall
Brandy Bissell
Brandy Kirkpatrick
Brigitte Combs
Brittany Wright
Christina Roskovich
Christy Parrott
Davinder Kaur
Debbie Bolyard-Holub
Delma P. Rojas
Dena Hassouneh
Denée Michele Lambert
Dew (Donna) Winegarner
Dr. Trevicia Williams
Elizabeth Sitton
Evelyn Lane
Genevieve Meyer
Hasana Chaudry
Heather Scarpati
Hufsa Chaudry
Ismari Altamirano
Jamie Estermyer
Jasmine Cordova
Jasmine West
Jeanni Gentry Strait
Jessica Key
Jessica Milton
Judith Edwards
Karlie Blackmore
Kathryn Clark
Kelsea Hendrix
Kristena Mitchell
Marilyn K. Smith
Meghan Gillespie
Melissa Finley
Melissa Lietuvnikas
Michelle DeMello
Mila Krambo
Noelle Rose
Olga Muhammad
Roda Osman
Romy Morgan
Safia Mahjebin
Samantha Nicole Butler
Sarah Seely
Sasha K. Taylor
Selina Kyle
Shana Lee Klinge
Shanti Karabaich
Sherry Johnson
Sheila Marie Cooper
Skylar Gordon
Sreya Vemula
Stephanie Gatton
Tabitha Peregory
Tamara MC
Tamiko Gland
Tammi Burt
Tammy Monteiro
Terry Rosensteil
Tonya McCoy
Tonya Peldo
Valencia Young
Vida Opoku
Wendy Rose
Zondria Weems