We’re now three down, 47 to go in our national movement to end child marriage in every U.S. state.
Gov. Tom Wolf just signed HB360 to end all marriage before age 18 in Pennsylvania, no exceptions. Pennsylvania is now the third U.S. state, after Delaware and New Jersey, to end child marriage — and the first state legislature to do so unanimously. It is also the first state legislature to end child marriage remotely, during a global pandemic.
For the last 3.5 years we and the bill’s bipartisan sponsors — Reps. Jesse Topper and Perry Warren and Sens. John Sabatina, Judy Schwank and Wayne Langerholc — advocated relentlessly for this historic victory for children.
You joined us too, if you Chained-In with us in Philadelphia two years ago or in Harrisburg last June, or donated a bridal gown for us to wear with our chains; helped us to meet with, email and call every Pennsylvania legislator and the governor repeatedly; joined us in the capitol on our countless wrangle days and at legislative sessions; followed/liked/retweeted us on social media or supported us financially.
We formed the Pennsylvania Coalition to End Child Marriage with our allies, including AHA Foundation, Child USA, Child USAdvocacy, Global Citizen, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, PA NOW, UNICEF USA, Villanova Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Women’s Way and members of the National Coalition to End Child Marriage. We compiled in-depth legal research conducted on a pro bono basis by the law firms White & Case and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. We partnered with Lush Charity Pot and Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Palm Beaches, whose generosity made this victory possible.
Under the current law, a child as young as zero can be entered into marriage in Pennsylvania by a parent (age 16-17) or a judge (age 15 or younger) with little or no say from the child. As of 2014, an estimated 2,323 children age 15 to 17 living in Pennsylvania had already been married. The new law will go into effect in 60 days.
Children in Pennsylvania who are not yet 18 can easily be forced to marry or become trapped in an abusive or unhappy marriage, since they cannot easily leave home without being taken into police custody, enter a domestic violence shelter, retain an attorney or even file for divorce.
Further, marriage before 18 destroys girls’ health, education and economic opportunities and increases their risk of experiencing violence. The U.S. State Department has called marriage before 18 a “human rights abuse.”
To date, our advocacy has helped to end this human rights abuse in Delaware, New Jersey, the U.S. Virgin Islands — and now Pennsylvania. American Samoa, too, has ended child marriage. Let’s move on to the next state together. #LockDownRiseUp #18NoExceptions