April was barely 15 when she was married in Missouri to a 22-year-old man who raped her that night and continued to rape her for over a year.
“It was a hostage situation, not a marriage,” April said. “But I am no longer afraid nor ashamed to speak about it publicly, as it is not my shame, but his.”
It is all our shame. Child marriage remains legal in most of the U.S. — and thousands of minors marry here every year, our research found. Most, like April, are girls wed to adult men, typically before the girls are old enough to enter a domestic violence shelter or file for divorce.
Together we can end this human rights abuse. We eliminated child marriage in six U.S. states over the last three years. Only 44 states to go.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Let’s raise $50k in the last 50 days of 2021, to continue leading the national movement to end child marriage in all 50 states.
“Unchained At Last is the radical wake-up call to a country in denial,” April said, “and they won’t stop until child marriage is outlawed in every state.” (Read April’s full story here.)
Every donation you make before the end of the year will double in value, thanks to a dollar-for-dollar match from a generous donor.
Join us and fellow Gates Foundation Learning Consortium partners at 11am ET/8am PT on October 12 for a virtual celebration of International Day of the Girl as we hear the latest evidence on child marriage and discuss how these findings can support advocacy, programming and further research. Register here.
Dressed in bridal gowns and chains, we and our allies marched from Boston Common to the Massachusetts State House to urge Massachusetts legislators to pass H1709/S937 — as we have been pushing them to do since 2017! — and finally eliminate the dangerous legal loopholes that allow marriage before age 18. All Chain-Ins are special, but this Chain-In was extra special: It was filmed for an upcoming documentary series on a major platform.
Speakers included:
Our Chain-In drew the attention of passersby and international news media, including The Guardian, Agence France-Presse, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Boston University News Service and others.
Photos by Matilde Simas
Here come the brides! Please join us at our next Chain-In protest of forced and child marriage September 22 in Boston.
All Chain-Ins are special, but this Chain-In is extra special: It will be filmed for an upcoming documentary series on a major platform.
As at every Chain-In, we will wear bridal gowns and chains — which we provide — as we urge Massachusetts legislators to pass H1709/S937 and end the sexist, archaic, harmful practice of child marriage.
Due to the special nature of this Chain-In, space is extremely limited. Registrations are accepted on a first come, first served basis. The registration deadline is 9:00 am ET on Wednesday, September 15.
Raise your hand if you:
And then submit your application to serve as our Director of Client Services and guide women, girls, LGBTQ individuals and others as they escape forced marriages.
Child marriage is a serious problem in Massachusetts. Minors of any age can be entered into marriage without any input from them — even though they cannot file for divorce or even enter a domestic violence shelter until the day they turn 18. Nearly 1,250 children were entered into marriage in Massachusetts just between 2000 and 2018. Some 60 of them were under age 16, so they were not even old enough to consent to sex.
This calls for a protest.
We will Chain-In in Boston on September 22. We will wear bridal gowns and chains to urge legislators to pass H1709/S937 — as we have been pushing them to do since 2017! — and finally eliminate the dangerous legal loopholes that allow marriage before age 18.
All Chain-Ins are special, but this Chain-In is extra special: It will be filmed for an upcoming documentary series on a major platform.
The great news for us: We have grown enough that we need a Director of Development to spearhead our fundraising efforts.
The great news for you: You might be a good fit for this opportunity if you have at least five years’ development experience and you care as much as we do about ending forced and child marriage in the U.S.
Our research on the extent of child marriage in the United States will be published in the Journal of Adolescent Health this fall, in both print and online editions. We’ll celebrate the publication with a launch event in October in conjunction with the Gates Foundation and others. More information to come — stay tuned!
Dressed in bridal gowns and chains, more than 20 of us and our allies gathered in Manhattan today to celebrate that New York just ended child marriage — but also to protest that 44 U.S. states still allow this human rights abuse.
Speakers included:
Our Chain-In drew the attention of passersby and the news media, including the Independent and others.
We at Unchained lead a growing national movement to end child marriage in every U.S. state and at the federal level — as part of our mission to end all forms of forced marriage through direct services and advocacy.
Child marriage often is forced marriage, because minors 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 a divorce before they turn 18. Further, child marriage is recognized as a human rights abuse that destroys American girls’ health, education and economic opportunities and significantly increases their risk of experiencing domestic violence.
One of the strategies we use in our push to end this human rights abuse is the Chain-In. Read more here about this powerful form of peaceful protest, which we have staged in multiple U.S. states.
Our Fraidy Reiss, a forced marriage survivor, had pledged July 20 to Chain-In outside Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Manhattan office in a bridal gown and chains every Wednesday starting August 4 until the governor signed the bill the legislature passed in June to end child marriage.
And then, on July 22, Gov. Cuomo signed the bill. !!
So the inaugural Chain-In on August 4 will become a Chain-In Celebration, and subsequent Chain-Ins are canceled.
Please join us August 4 to celebrate this historic legislative victory. We still will wear bridal gowns and chains, which we provide. All you need to do is register on this page — and show up to celebrate New York’s new law and to protest forced and child marriage in the 44 U.S. states that still allow it.
Speakers at the Chain-In Celebration will include:
We also will sing and chant against forced and child marriage, including a rendition of The Girls You Have Destroyed, a chilling poem/song we wrote about child marriage in the United States.
Chain-In Celebration NYC
August 4 | 10:00 a.m.
633 3rd Avenue
(Outside Gov. Cuomo’s Manhattan office)
Child Marriage in the United States
We at Unchained lead a growing national movement to end child marriage in every U.S. state and at the federal level — as part of our mission to end all forms of forced marriage through direct services and advocacy.
Child marriage often is forced marriage, because minors 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 a divorce before they turn 18. Further, child marriage is recognized as a human rights abuse that destroys American girls’ health, education and economic opportunities and significantly increases their risk of experiencing domestic violence.
One of the strategies we use in our push to end this human rights abuse is the Chain-In. Read more here about this powerful form of peaceful protest, which we have staged in multiple U.S. states.
Join the movement. Be a part of our Chain-In Celebration.
