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
What pandemic?
The Minnesota senate just UNANIMOUSLY approved SF1393/HF745, sponsored by Sen. Sandy Pappas and Rep. Kaohly Her, to end all marriage before 18. The house previously approved the bill, also unanimously, and now needs only to update the enactment date. Then the bill heads Gov. Tim Walz’s desk — and he has promised to sign it.
You will recall that the bill to end child marriage in Pennsylvania passed unanimously out of both legislative houses last week and is now awaiting the governor’s signature there. All during a global pandemic.
Under current Minnesota law, children age 16 and 17 can marry with parental “consent” (which is often parental coercion) and judicial approval (which can easily be rubber-stamped). As of 2014, an estimated 1,142 children age 15 to 17 living in Minnesota had already been married. However, children can easily be forced to marry or forced to stay in a marriage before their 18th birthday, because they have limited legal rights. Also, child marriage is a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives.
That’s why we lead a national movement to end child marriage in every U.S. state, territory and district — and no pandemic can stop us.
Take that, coronavirus.
Both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature just voted unanimously (and remotely) to end child marriage — a huge victory for girls and boys and a giant “you can’t stop us” to covid-19. The bill they approved, HB360, now heads to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk — and he has promised he will sign it.
Under the current law, the effective marriage age in Pennsylvania is zero. As of 2014, an estimated 2,323 children age 15 to 17 living in Pennsylvania had already been married.
That might end soon, thanks to the leadership of the bill’s bipartisan sponsors: Reps. Jesse Topper and Perry Warren and Sens. John Sabatina, Judy Schwank and Wayne Langerholc. Pennsylvania might soon become the third U.S. state, after Delaware and New Jersey, where our advocacy helped to eliminate all marriage before age 18. The Pennsylvania legislature would be the first to end child marriage unanimously.
Just when you thought nothing good would ever happen again: This afternoon the Pennsylvania senate judiciary committee unanimously released HB360, the bill we’ve been promoting nonstop to end child marriage. The bill now heads to the full senate.
Yes, most legislative action is at a standstill due to the global pandemic. But PA legislators, led by Rep. Jesse Topper and the bill’s other sponsors, recognize the urgency of the need to end a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives. They added an amendment to allow marriage via affidavit during a disaster declaration, which made HB360 a “covid-19 bill” and fast-tracked it.
HB360 and its senate companion, SB81, each has passed out of its respective house unanimously. Under Pennsylvania rules, one bill must pass again in the opposite house before it can go to the governor for his signature, which is why the senate still needs to vote on HB360. Also, because the bill now has been amended, it will need to pass out of the house again before it proceeds to the governor’s desk.
If you live in Pennsylvania, urge your legislators to act now and make Pennsylvania the third U.S. state – after Delaware and New Jersey – to eliminate all marriage before age 18.
We feel just as scared and confused as you do while coronavirus rages around the world, but we remain dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the United States through direct services and advocacy. We are still here, but we are working remotely.
You can still reach us to get help if you or someone you know is escaping a forced marriage.
You can still contact any member of our team, preferably via email. Email us here for general inquiries.
You can still support us. We need your generosity now more than ever.
New Hampshire is making strides toward ending child marriage: The House of Representatives just voted “yes” on HB1516, the bill to end all marriage before 18, sponsored by Rep. Cassie Levesque.
The New Hampshire legislature has failed in all its previous attempts to end child marriage. Then-NH Rep. David Bates actually said out loud in 2017: “We’re asking the legislature to repeal a law that’s been on the books for over a century, that’s been working without difficulty, on the basis of a request from a minor doing a Girl Scout project.” (That Girl Scout was Levesque, who was not yet a legislator.)
But finally, progress. This is the first time a bill to eliminate child marriage in New Hampshire has gotten this far. Next, the bill heads to the senate.
Click here to track our progress as we push to end child marriage in every U.S. state and territory.
Here’s a film you’re going to want to watch: Knots: A Forced Marriage Story, a feature-length documentary film that follows three forced marriage survivors from the U.S., including our founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss. Knots, from filmmaker Kate Ryan Brewer, “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.
Knots is being screened at film festivals around the world. You can watch it here:
TBD
Knots made its global premiere in March and has been seen at international film festivals:
March 4, 2020 | Omaha Film Festival | Omaha, NE (Global premiere)
March 14, 2020 | Manchester Film Festival | Manchester, England
Any chance you’re in Omaha today? Or will be in Manchester, England, on March 14?
If so, join us to watch Knots: A Forced Marriage Story, a feature-length documentary film that follows three forced marriage survivors from the U.S. — including our founder/executive director, Fraidy Reiss.
We’ll celebrate the film’s global premiere tonight at the Omaha Film Festival, then head next week to the UK to celebrate the film’s inclusion in the Manchester Film Festival. At both festivals, Fraidy and filmmaker Kate Ryan Brewer — and, in Manchester, costars Nina and Sara — will engage the audience in a Q&A session about forced marriage in the U.S.
Remember how we Chained-In in Minnesota last month to urge legislators to end child marriage? Looks like they got the message.
The senate judiciary committee just released SF1393/HF475, sponsored by Sen. Sandy Pappas and Rep. Kaohly Her, to end all marriage before 18. The bill now heads to the full senate. And since it already passed unanimously out of the house, if the senate votes yes, it heads to the governor’s desk.
Click here to track our progress as we push to end child marriage in every U.S. state and territory.
Dressed in bridal gowns and chains, we descended on the Minnesota state capitol building on Thursday, chanting, singing and marching through the building to protest forced and child marriage and tell legislators this Valentine’s Day that there is nothing romantic about child marriage.
As usual, our Chain-In drew the attention of passersby and the news media, including ABC, CBS, TwinCities.com, DL-Online, WCCO Radio and The Bemidji Pioneer.
Speakers included:
Our message to legislators was clear: It’s time to pass SF1393 and make Minnesota the third U.S. state – after Delaware and New Jersey – to end child marriage.
We at Unchained At Last lead a growing national movement to end child marriage in the United States by eliminating the legal loopholes in all 50 states and at the federal level that allow, and even encourage, child marriage. Seventeen states, including Massachusetts, do not specify any minimum age for marriage.
Read more here about Chain-Ins, the powerful form of peaceful protest that we invented to raise awareness of forced and child marriage in the United States.
