Knots: A Forced Marriage Story, an award-winning, feature-length documentary film that follows three forced marriage survivors from the U.S., including our founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss, is now available to watch via Apple TV and Google Play. Learn more about Knots and how to watch here and watch the trailer below.
Knots, from filmmaker Kate Ryan Brewer, made its global debut in March 2020 and has screened at film festivals around the world. It won “Best Documentary” at the Geelong International Film Festival in Australia and “Best Documentary Feature” at the Manchester Film Festival in the United Kingdom. The film “examines the truth about forced marriage in the U.S. through the complicated experiences of those who have survived it.
Forced marriage is a human rights abuse that happens right here in the U.S., and it impacts people from all backgrounds. In a forced marriage, one or both parties enters without full, free, informed consent. Further, even if both parties enter a marriage with full, free, informed consent, the union can later become a forced marriage if one or both parties is forced to stay in it. Women and girls, including children at least as young as 12, are being forced into marriage here in the U.S.
Read more about forced marriage in the U.S. and our work to end it.
What better way to celebrate our recent Massachusetts victory and build on the momentum it created than with a segment about it on BBC World Service, the world’s largest broadcaster?
Our Fraidy Reiss spoke recently to BBC in an interview that was broadcast around the world — including, for example, on WBUR in Boston.
And remember you can also see us in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s Apple TV+ docuseries, Gutsy. With your continued support, we will continue making noise until we end forced and child marriage in the U.S.!
Yes, that is our founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss who is featured in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s new Apple TV+ docuseries, Gutsy, as one of the “world’s boldest and bravest women” who have made an impact in their community and on the world. !! Fraidy appears alongside some of her longtime girl crushes, including Gloria Steinem, Dr. Jane Goodall and Wanda Sykes.
Fraidy makes her appearance in the Gutsy Women Are Rebel Hearts episode of Gutsy, which examines her escape from an abusive forced marriage and her relentless advocacy to end forced and child marriage in the United States.
The docuseries is based on The Book of Gutsy Women (Simon & Schuster), in which Hillary and Chelsea Clinton share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them — including Fraidy.
“Gutsy,” which premiered on Apple TV+ on September 9, follows Hillary and Chelsea Clinton as they “speak with pioneering women artists, activists, community leaders and everyday heroes who show us what it truly means to be gutsy.”
According to the series description, viewers will “Take an unforgettable journey with Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton as they go on adventures with some of the world’s boldest and bravest women – from household names to unsung heroes – who make us laugh and inspire us to be more gutsy.”
Watch our episode of “Gutsy” (and the other seven episodes) now on Apple TV+.
You might have noticed a familiar face if you watched the trailer for Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s upcoming docuseries, “Gutsy.
Our founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss is one of the “world’s boldest and bravest women” featured in “Gutsy,” which will premiere September 9 on Apple TV+. Fraidy is in some good company here, alongside Gloria Steinem, Dr. Jane Goodall, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, Goldie Hawn and many more.
Haven’t seen the trailer yet? Watch it here (or below) and share on social media.
WE DID IT! Our six years of relentless advocacy just led Massachusetts to end child marriage, making it the seventh U.S. state to ban this human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives.
Gov. Charlie Baker just approved language the legislature sent him last week in the state budget to eliminate all marriage before 18, without exceptions (which goes into effect immediately!).
Since 2016 we and our allies in the Massachusetts Coalition to End Child Marriage have worked closely with Rep. Kay Khan, Sen. Harriette Chandler and bipartisan legislative champions to achieve this legislative victory.
We compiled in-depth legal research conducted on a pro bono basis by the law firms White & Case and DLA Piper. We met with (or called) every state legislator multiple times. We testified at legislative hearings and submitted memos of support, and we recruited our allies to do the same. We wrote op-ed articles and appeared on television, radio and even in films to raise awareness. We launched email campaigns to target various legislators and the governor. We Chained-In three times in Boston, wearing bridal gowns and chains, to protest child marriage (including one Chain-In that was filmed for an upcoming docuseries on a major streaming platform).
And it worked! Finally!
Lush, the cosmetics company that uses only ethically sourced ingredients, made our work possible with its generosity. And you made this victory possible, if you emailed Massachusetts legislators to urge them to take action, shared our posts on social media or supported us financially.
Previously, parents could enter a child of any age into marriage in Massachusetts, without any input from the child, even if the child was too young to consent to sex. And marriage before age 18 creates a hellish legal trap: Even the most mature 17-year-old is not allowed to enter a domestic violence shelter or even file independently for divorce.
The previous law also contradicted statutory rape laws. Sex with a child under age 16 is a crime in Massachusetts, but marriage to a child under age 16 was perfectly legal. Every time the commonwealth issued a marriage license to a child under age 16, it basically sent a child home to be raped.
Further, marriage before 18 produces such devastating, lifelong repercussions for girls that the U.S. State Department has called it a human rights abuse.
This human rights abuse happened with alarming frequency. Our study found that 1,246 minors, some as young as 13, were entered into marriage in Massachusetts between 2000 and 2018. At least 83 percent were girls wed to adult men an average of 5.15 years older. And 59 were under age 16, too young to consent to sex.
Massachusetts has now joined Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island and New York and embraced the simple, commonsense solution we are pushing in all 50 U.S. states: Set the marriage age at 18, without exceptions. Legislation to that effect harms no one, costs nothing and ends a human rights abuse.
Now we have “only” 43 states to go to end child marriage in the U.S. Your support makes that possible! Please donate now.
The Massachusetts Coalition to End Child Marriage includes: AHA Foundation, American Atheists, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, CAIR Massachusetts, Cape Cod Access, Cape Cod Women for Change, Child USA, Child USAdvocacy, Children’s League of Massachusetts, Children’s Trust MA, Equality Now, Girl Scouts of Central and Western MA, Girl Scouts of Eastern MA, Girl Up Needham, Girls Inc. – Holyoke, Girls Inc. of the Valley, Global Citizen, Group Peer Support, Greater Boston Legal Services, Human Rights Watch, J Strategies, Justice of the Peace Association, Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, Massachusetts Citizens for Children (MassKids), Massachusetts Coalition to End Human Trafficking, Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, Massachusetts High School Democrats, Massachusetts Justice of the Peace Association, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), Mass NOW, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan, National Association of Social Workers — MA Chapter, Office of the Child Advocate, Pathways for Change, Portal to Hope, Probate and Family Court Department, RIA House, Safe Havens Interfaith Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Students Against Child Marriage, SWIFT: Supporting Women in Financial Transition, The Cape Cod & Island Commission on the Status of Women, Unchained At Last, UNICEF USA, Upper Cape Women’s Coalition, We Stand Together – Martha’s Vineyard, Alianza of Holyoke and Zonta Malden.
Individual members include: Alexis Brickner, Amber Hanson, Carolyn Schwartz, Christopher Viens, Deborah Benson, Diane Lopez, Dr. Shanta Pandy (Boston College School of Social Work), Jamie Sabino, Jana Harris, Jenn Bradbury (child marriage survivor), Julia Freedson (Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs), Kathleen Lenihan (Lexington School Committee), Prof. Margaret Drew (UMASS Dartmouth), Mya Tauber, Nesha Abiraj, Rabbi Claudia Kreiman, Sarah Hemingway, Sarah Pierson, Shagufa Habibi (child marriage survivor) and Simon Goodacre.
IT’S HAPPENING! Massachusetts legislators just voted to end child marriage — as we and our allies, led by Rep. Kay Khan and Sen. Harriette Chandler, have been pushing them to do for SIX YEARS. !!
The ban on marriage before age 18 was included in this year’s state budget, which now heads to Gov. Charlie Baker for his signature.
Currently minors of any age may be entered into marriage in Massachusetts by a parent and a judge, without any input required from the minor. And once married, the minor is trapped: They may not enter a domestic violence shelter or even file independently for divorce.
If you live in Massachusetts, please contact Gov. Baker here and urge him to make Massachusetts the seventh U.S. state to end child marriage. And then let’s move on to the eighth state.
You want an exciting job that allows you to make the world a better place. And we just opened two new career opportunities that fit that description:
Apply now, before someone else grabs your dream job!
It’s the biggest day of their life. And the scariest. And the loneliest.
It’s the day a survivor flees a forced marriage.
Introducing the Un-Wedding Gift Registry, where you have the opportunity to help a specific survivor with a specific, urgent need. Your gift allows them to escape and rebuild their life — and makes their traumatic experience a little less terrifying and lonely.
We post an Un-Wedding Gift Registry every once in a while, each time for only a brief time — and the inaugural Un-Wedding Gift Registry is now live. Please give a gift today!
As our team at Unchained At Last continues to grow, please allow us to introduce one of our newest and handsomest team members: Fairfax!
Fairfax is a facility dog, which means he is an expertly trained assistance dog who works with a professional to help clients achieve therapeutic and practical goals by performing specific, skilled tasks. Fairfax provides support to Unchained clients and promotes engagement during meetings and therapy sessions. He reduces the trauma-related symptoms that survivors experience as they escape forced marriages, navigate new and often stressful systems and transition into their new lives.
Fairfax was trained by Canine Companions, the leading assistance dog nonprofit in the United States, and he comes to us with his handler, Sam, our new (and first ever) Senior Director of Client Services. Sam is a licensed clinical social worker who also holds a masters degree in public health — and more than 10 years’ experience serving trauma survivors.
Both Sam and Fairfax are extensively trained in animal-assisted psychotherapy. In this therapeutic modality, a dog is incorporated into the therapy process by a specially trained mental health professional to drive the therapeutic process in a nonjudgmental and safely engaging manner. Sam has been training in and utilizing this modality since 2017.
Fairfax follows more than 30 commands, and he can execute complex tasks to engage and console clients by following command sequences. For example, he can apply deep pressure at a client’s request, play games that encourage communication or offer a box of tissues to provide comfort and reduce tension.
Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so you won’t miss #FairfaxFridays, where we will keep you updated on Fairfax’s important work. And we’ll share lots of photos, obviously.
Unchained At Last’s founder and executive director, Fraidy Reiss, has been chosen as one of 10 social entrepreneurs for this year’s Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York Collective.
The Collective, established in 2019, is an incubator for Jewish women changemakers who address critical societal needs and issues, both existing and emerging, with the innovation and determination to make meaningful systemic change and inspire others.
Reiss, a forced marriage survivor turned activist, was selected for her work to end forced and child marriage in the United States through direct services and advocacy. Through Unchained, Reiss has started a national movement to eliminate child marriage in every U.S. state – and already has helped to achieve historic legislative victories in six U.S. states.
“I am honored to be chosen for The Collective and deeply humbled to be included among such extraordinary women leaders,” Reiss said. “Thank you, JWFNY, for believing not only in my mission to eradicate forced and child marriage but in my ability to achieve that mission.”
Reiss and the nine others were selected from a pool of nearly 350 social entrepreneurs. JWFNY introduced and honored them April 27 at an in-person and live-streamed event inaugurating the foundation’s 25th anniversary.
“As the entire world searches for and adopts new paradigms, JWFNY is privileged to partner with each of these remarkable leaders, elevate them and provide them with opportunities to advance and amplify their work,” said Jamie Allen Black, CEO of JWFNY.
Members of The Collective receive two years of capacity building and general operating support, professional development funding and immersive study of leadership and organizational growth. In addition, they get access to a formal and dynamic network of Jewish women visionaries and philanthropists for idea exchanges, support and collaboration, as well as a prominent platform to raise awareness of their work, issue areas and impact.
“[This] represents what is possible when women leaders with moral courage are recognized, encouraged and supported with strategic philanthropic investment,” said Rachel Weinstein, president of JWFNY.
