Our hard work on behalf of girls has paid off. The Delaware senate on Thursday unanimously passed the bill we are working tirelessly to pass in all 50 states: to end child marriage, without exceptions.
The bill, HB337, now heads to the governor’s desk. If he signs it — which we expect him to do — Delaware will become the first U.S. state to end child marriage.
Current Delaware law sets the marriage age at 18 but includes a dangerous loophole: Children of any age can marry if a parent petitions the court and the court approves it.
This loophole effectively disempowers children, leaving them easily susceptible to forced marriage at the hands of their parents. Keep in mind: When a child is forced to marry, the perpetrators are almost always the parents. And a child who is forced to marry also is forced to lie to the court about it, so the judicial approval requirement does not protect children.
HB337 eliminates the dangerous loophole and ends child marriage in Delaware. The champion of the bill is Rep. Kim Williams, a fierce advocate for women and girls.
We are pushing forward in other states too. Strong legislation we helped to write to end child marriage also passed last month in the New Jersey senate and is now pending in the assembly, where it has strong, bipartisan support.
Marriage before 18 is legal in all 50 U.S. states; in fact, laws in 22 states — including Delaware — do not specify any minimum marriage age. The federal government also is at fault: It does not specify any minimum age to petition for a foreign spouse or fiance or to be the beneficiary of a spousal or fiance visa.
Child marriage often is forced marriage, because children face overwhelming legal and practical barriers if they try to leave home, enter a domestic violence shelter, retain an attorney or bring a legal action such as divorce before they turn 18. Further, child marriage destroys girls’ health, education and economic opportunities and significantly increases their risk of being beaten by their spouse. In fact, the U.S. State Department has called marriage before 18 a “human rights abuse.”
We at Unchained lead a growing national movement to end child marriage in America by passing simple, commonsense legislation in all 50 states and at the federal level. The law firm White & Case makes our work possible through extensive pro bono legal research, bill drafting and other support.
We are grateful to these other partners and allies in our work to end child marriage:
