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
Jenn Bradbury,
child marriage survivor
Patricia Abatemarco,
child marriage survivor
Sara Tasneem,
child marriage survivor
Organization Allies
AHA Foundation
ALEPH
American Atheists
American Medical Women’s Association
Angry Black Muslim Woman
Avaaz
Break The Silence
Breakthrough
Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network
Child Labor Coalition
CHILD USA
CHILD USAdvocacy
Children’s Service Society
Coalition for Responsible Home Education
DANDOR
Ekahi Aloha
Equality Now
Family Service of Rhode Island
Feminist Majority Foundation
Footsteps
Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freedom United
Girls Inc.
Girls Learn International, Feminist Majority Foundation
Girls Not Brides
Girls Rights Project
Global Citizen
Global Girls Worldwide Women (GGWW)
Global Hope 365
Hunger Project
Illinois Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Association
Jews for a Secular Democracy
Justice of the Peace Association
K-mor Ministries
Katie Poirier Legislative Coalition for Victim’s Rights
Knots: A Forced Marriage Story
Lawyers for Good Government
LifeWay Network
LiveGirl
Lynn’s Warriors
Mainstay REdefined
Massachusetts Citizens for Children
Muslim American Leadership Alliance
Muslims for Progressive Values
Naila Amin Foundation
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Consumers League
National Organization for Women
National Women’s Law Center
New England Arab American Organization
Nurses Against Human Trafficking
Paladin Project
Polaris
Population Media Center
Post Mormon Ladies Group
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont
Promundo-US
Reality of a Desi Girl
Reproductive Rights Coalition
Respect Our Health LLC
Rights4Girls
Safer Society Foundation
Sanctuary for Families
Secular AZ
Secular Coalition for America
Shadika
Social Work in Progress
Society for Humanistic Judaism
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 Network
The Shafilea Ahmed Forum
Ultraviolet
UN Women USA Chicago Chapter
Unchained At Last
UNICEF UNITE
UNICEF USA
Uniquely Different
United Nations Association, Greater Chicago Chapter
Veterans Against Pedophilia
Women’s March LA
Worker Justice Center of New York
YWCA
ZA’AKAH
Zonta International
Zonta International, USA Caucus
Survivor Allies
Alandra Marfia
Aliya Abbas
Amanda Latham-Miller
Amber Wheeler
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
Dorothy Nichols
Dr. Trevicia Williams
Elizabeth Sitton
Evelyn Lane
Flora Sager
Genevieve Meyer
Hasana Chaudry
Heather Scarpati
Hufsa Chaudry
Ismari Altamirano
Jamie Estermyer
Janette Sterner
Jasmine Cordova
Jasmine West
Jeanni Gentry Strait
Jessica Key
Jessica Milton
Judith Edwards
Julie Knight
Karlie Blackmore
Kathryn Clark
Kelsea Hendrix
Kristena Mitchell
Kristin Burns
Lauren Van Wagoner
Linda Kravets
Mandy Havlik
Marilyn K. Smith
Meghan Gillespie
Melissa Finley
Melissa Lietuvnikas
Michelle DeMello
Mila Krambo
Noelle Rose
Olga Muhammad
Rivka Chaya Nathan
Roda Osman
Romy Morgan
Safia Mahjebin
Saja Corven
Samantha Nicole Butler
Sarah Seely
Sasha K. Taylor
Selina Kyle
SGR Brown
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