Successes and Setbacks in Eradicating Child Marriage Globally
Parallel Event of the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
Location: Church Center of the United Nations (Chapel), 777 UN Plaza (corner of 1st Ave. & 44th St.), NYC
Date: March 13, 2019
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
There are laws. Civil laws, criminal laws, religious laws.
There are policies and practices. Social protection systems. Access to shelter and other support.
And then there are attitudes. The value placed on girls and women.
All three play a vital role in eradicating child, early and forced marriage, but some governments seem not to recognize the perils of ignoring any of these areas. Join us and Mabel van Oranje to compare the successes and setbacks in these key areas in four countries: India, United States, Afghanistan and Kenya. Let’s talk about what we can we learn from these countries as the world continues the push to end child, early and forced marriage and the many other forms of violence to which those abuses leave girls vulnerable.
Our discussion will include an interactive exercise to challenge your preconceived notions of the legal and social protections that exist in various countries to protect girls from child marriage, and it will leave you with specific steps you can take to help end this human-rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives.
– Mabel van Oranje, Girls Not Brides
– Urvashi Gandhi, Breakthrough (India)
– Fraidy Reiss, Unchained At Last (United States)
– Gharsanay IbnulAmeen, 2019 NGO CSW Woman of Distinction (Afghanistan)
– Lydia Matioli, Freely In Hope (Kenya)
– Susanne von Bassewitz, Zonta International
– Nisha Varia, Human Rights Watch
– Unchained At Last
– Breakthrough
– Zonta International
– Freely In Hope
– NGO CSW/NY
No RSVP needed, but arrive on time as space is limited.
Do you have any idea how much we at Unchained At Last accomplished in 2018 to combat forced and child marriage in the U.S., thanks to your support?
Don’t expect us to slouch off in 2019. We expect at least 15 states to introduce the legislation we insist all states pass, to end all child marriage, without exceptions. And we will be in as many of those states to Chain-In, talk to legislators, testify at hearings, write op-ed articles, give media interviews, present at conferences and refuse to go away until the U.S. ends child marriage.
At the same time, we will continue to provide crucial services to the brave women, girls and others in the U.S. who are escaping forced marriages.
We can do all this if you continue to support us by donating time and/or money, sharing and liking our social media posts, and joining our Chain-Ins and other events.
Can you guess the minimum age for someone in the U.S. to petition for a foreign spouse or fiancé(e)? Or for someone to be brought to the U.S. on a spousal or fiancé(e) visa?
It’s zero. The federal government does not specify any minimum age for such petitions.
As a result, we at Unchained have seen girls under 18 forced to marry just so their overseas “husbands” can get U.S. visas. We also have seen girls brought to the U.S., legally, as child brides. Either way, the girls typically are raped and beaten within their “marriage” and not allowed to finish their education. All with the federal government’s approval.
Thanks to the AHA Foundation, which flagged this dangerous loophole and demanded data on the number of children impacted, we now know that between 2007 and 2017, more than 8,600 approved spousal/fiancé(e) visa petitions involved a child. In 95 percent of those cases, the child was a girl.
We at Unchained lead the growing national movement to end child marriage in the U.S. Along with the National Coalition to End Child Marriage that we co-convened with Equality Now, we will continue to push for a minimum marriage age of 18 in every U.S. state and at the federal level. Please continue to support us as we do so.
Warning: We’re about to do some serious name dropping.
How else could we let you know that celebrity stylist Ilaria Urbinati and luxury jacket brand The Mighty Company (founded by Jessie Willner) have designed a jacket collection to support our work to end forced and child marriage in the U.S.?
And how else could we tell you that Riverdale star Lili Reinhart is the face of the collection, modeling the jackets for Elle?
The jackets, which are made from ethically sourced, byproduct leather, sell for $995 — of which 100 percent of the profits go to Unchained.
“Even if you can’t buy a jacket,” Reinhart said, “show [Unchained’s] page some love and consider donating whatever you can to this life-changing charity.”
It’s a shame Unchained’s Fraidy Reiss never got her moment on the stage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City’s Central Park.
Reiss was scheduled to join an all-star lineup that included Janet Jackson. The Weeknd. Shawn Mendes. Cardi B. Janelle Monae. John Legend. Hugh Jackman.
The festival encourages activism on key issues, and Reiss was going to get on stage to inspire “global citizens” to join the growing national movement Unchained leads to end child marriage in the U.S. She was supposed to address some 60,000 people at the festival, and many tens of thousands more watching it stream online.
However, shortly before she got on stage, some festival attendees heard popping noises that they mistook for gunshots. The chaos that ensued resulted in some injuries – and forced the festival organizers to cut many acts, including Reiss’.
Unchained and Reiss are glad, though, that the popping sounds were not actually gunshots.
Unchained’s Fraidy Reiss.
These are some of the stars you’ll see on stage Sept. 29 at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City’s Central Park. The festival encourages activism on key issues, and this year, it seeks to inspire “global citizens” to join the growing national movement Unchained leads to end child marriage in the U.S.
Some 60,000 people are expected to attend the festival, and many thousands more will watch it streaming online. Do you want to join?
How hilarious was Trevor Noah on Friday night?
You know exactly how funny he was if you are among the 250 people who joined us at Unchained At Last for Trevor Noah @ NJPAC, and enjoyed champagne and dessert after the show.
We laughed until our stomachs hurt — and raised $25,000 to help women and girls in the U.S. escape forced marriages.
This event honored two of Unchained’s pro bono attorneys, who have shown extraordinary generosity to women fleeing forced marriages:
She was forced into marriage; now she’s helping others escape.
So CNN’s Great Big Story introduces our founder/executive director, Fraidy Reiss, as the fifth “Defender” in a five-part series about fearless, headstrong, undeterred women fighting for change in the spirit of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
California lawmakers are refusing to end child marriage. And you can help change their minds.
We at Unchained helped to write and promote SB 273 to end all marriage before 18 in California, without exceptions. But legislators amended the bill beyond recognition; in its current form, it would do more harm than good.
Take action! Email California legislators here to urge them to kill SB 273 and introduce legislation to end all child marriage. It only takes a minute.
The marriage age in California is 18, but the law includes a dangerous loophole: Children of any age may marry with parental “consent” and judicial approval.
However, children can easily be forced to marry before they turn 18 and become legal adults, because they 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. Parental “consent” does not mitigate that danger: When a child is forced to marry, the perpetrators are almost always the parents.
Further, child marriage devastates girls’ lives. It destroys their health, education and economic opportunities, and increases their risk of experiencing violence. In fact, the U.S. State Department has called marriage before 18 a “human rights abuse.”
The current version of SB 273 would continue to allow a child of any age to marry, and would erect meaningless barriers that are insufficient to protect children from forced marriage or from the harms of early marriage.
In addition, the current version of SB 273 would continue to undermine statutory-rape laws and give rapists a “get out of jail free” card. The age of consent to have sex in California is 18, and someone who has sex with a child under 18 can be charged with a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the parties’ age difference. However, those protections disappear as soon as a marriage license is issued, because the statutory-rape law exempts married couples.
A full rebuttal of the current version of SB 273 is here, in the form of the opposition letter we submitted to the California legislature on August 9.
Earlier this year, we got Delaware and New Jersey to end all child marriage – the first two U.S. states to do so. Other states are moving to do the same. Why is California lagging behind?
We at Unchained At Last descended on the Jersey Shore yesterday with some 50 activists – most of us wearing white bridal gowns and veils, with chains on our wrists – for the first ever Chain-In Celebration.
We cheered the heroes and allies – including New Jersey’s Sen. Nellie Pou and Asm. Nancy Munoz – who helped us to achieve our historic victories in Delaware and New Jersey, where we (finally!) ended child marriage. And we sent a powerful message to the 48 other states: We’re coming for you next.
We lead a growing national movement to end child marriage in the U.S., because child marriage often is forced marriage. Child marriage was legal in all 50 U.S. states – until Delaware became the first U.S. state to end child marriage in May, and New Jersey followed in June.
Be part of the movement – and get a good laugh – by joining us and Trevor Noah in a few weeks for an evening of hilarity:
