Unchained today testified before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee in support of HB911, which would end child marriage in Maryland.
Currently, child marriage is legal in all 50 US states, and thousands of children, as young as 10, have married in recent years. Del. Vanessa Atterbeary introduced HB911 last month, after reading the New York Times op-ed Unchained wrote about “America’s Child Marriage Problem.”
Three other states, New York, New Jersey and Virginia, also introduced similar legislation after the op-ed was published. Unchained’s goal is to see all 50 states introduce and pass legislation to end child marriage in America. Details here.
Some 40 guests joined the Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative and Unchained at Last tonight in New York City for a screening of the film DIFRET, followed by cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton generously hosted the event to benefit Unchained, the only nonprofit in the US dedicated to helping women and girls leave or avoid arranged/forced marriages.
From executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt, the award-winning drama DIFRET is based on the true story of 14-year-old Hirut, who is abducted in her Ethiopian village’s tradition of kidnapping girls for marriage. She fights back, accidentally killing her captor and intended husband. Local law demands a death sentence for Hirut, but Meaza, a tough lawyer from a women’s legal-aid practice, steps in to fight for Hirut and against a deeply rooted tradition.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is an international law firm with 18 offices and some 550 attorneys that is particularly well known for its intellectual-property practice. The firm, which has won numerous awards for community service, has shown exceptional generosity to Unchained: A team of Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys recently represented an Unchained client pro bono through her divorce proceeding, as she fled an arranged marriage.
The Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative is focused on driving the growth of the firm’s business, building the firm’s talent pipeline and assuring the inclusion of women at the firm. Unchained is deeply grateful to the Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative for hosting this film-and-fundraising event to benefit Unchained.
Unchained’s work to end child marriage in the US was in the spotlight last night on Al Jazeera America television.
“This [child marriage] is legal in the United States, and this is happening in the United States,” Fraidy Reiss, Unchained’s executive director, told Al Jazeera.
Unchained and its allies are pushing to end child marriage in all 50 states. So far, four states have introduced legislation to end the practice: Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.
New Jersey is now the fourth state where legislation is pending to end child marriage, thanks to the work of Unchained and its allies.
Click here and here to read two of the many news media articles about this that have been published recently, and expect soon to see Unchained interviewed on Al Jazeera America television and on NPR radio.
Currently, child marriage is legal in all 50 states – and children in the US have been marrying at an alarming rate, as Unchained revealed in October in an op-ed in the New York Times. In New Jersey alone, 3,499 children as young as 10 were married between 1995 and 2012, mostly minor girls married to adult men.
Since that op-ed was published, legislators in four states have worked with Unchained and its allies to introduce legislation to end child marriage:
Unchained and its allies’ work to end child marriage in every US state continues to yield results. First it was New York, then Virginia; now the progress is in Maryland, where a bill has been introduced to eliminate two dangerous exceptions to Maryland’s minimum marriage age that currently allow children as young as 15 to wed.
Since 2000, more than 3,000 child marriages have occurred in Maryland, including nearly 150 that involved children age 15 or even younger. Some 85% of the children married were girls.
Unchained, in partnership with Tahirih Justice Center, worked with Del. Vanessa Atterbeary to draft the bill (HB0911), and both organizations will testify in support March 3 in Maryland. You can show your support – in Maryland and across the US – by signing the petition.
In New York, the bill Asw. Amy Paulin introduced to end child marriage (A8563) remains pending; Unchained is working with Sanctuary for Families to get it passed. In Virginia, due to Tahirih’s hard work, a bill (S415) is advancing in the legislature. In New Jersey, expect to hear an announcement soon about legislation introduced.
NTN24 aired an interview with Unchained At Last about child marriage. If you speak Spanish, view the interview here.
The Pixel Project kicked off its 2016 Inspirational Interview series with an interview with Fraidy Reiss, Unchained’s founder and executive director.
“I plan to keep telling my story and keep ‘shouting from the rooftops,'” Reiss said in the interview. “I hope other survivors will continue to do the same, until people no longer assume forced marriage does not happen in the United States.”
Kilpatrick Townsend’s Women’s Initiative and Unchained At Last invite you to a screening of the film DIFRET, followed by cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
Date: March 3, 2016
Screening: 5:00 p.m.
Cocktails: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Kilpatrick Townsend
xxxxxxxxx1114 Avenue of the Americas
xxxxxxxxx21st Floor
xxxxxxxxxNew York, NY 10036
RSVP: Click here
Donation cards will be available at the event, to benefit Unchained. If you cannot attend, please donate here.
From executive producer Angelina Jolie Pitt, the award-winning drama DIFRET is based on the true story of 14-year-old Hirut, who is abducted in her Ethiopian village’s tradition of kidnapping girls for marriage. She fights back, accidentally killing her captor and intended husband. Local law demands a death sentence for Hirut, but Meaza, a tough lawyer from a women’s legal-aid practice, steps in to fight for Hirut and against a deeply rooted tradition.
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton is an international law firm with 18 offices and some 550 attorneys that is particularly well known for its intellectual-property practice. The firm, which has won numerous awards for community service, has shown exceptional generosity to Unchained: A team of Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys recently represented an Unchained client pro bono through her divorce proceeding, as she fled an arranged marriage.
The Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative is focused on driving the growth of the firm’s business, building the firm’s talent pipeline and assuring the inclusion of women at the firm. Unchained is deeply grateful to the Kilpatrick Townsend Women’s Initiative for hosting this film-and-fundraising event to benefit Unchained.
Some 325 people joined Junior Woman’s Club of Westfield and Unchained At Last tonight at Winter Blast, featuring New Jersey’s most beloved bar band, The Nerds. The crowd enjoyed the open bar, food, games of chance and raffles – including one lucky guy who won the chance to sing with The Nerds during the final set.
Winter Blast was hosted by the talented and hardworking ladies of the Junior Woman’s Club of Westfield to benefit Unchained At Last’s clients: brave women and girls who are fleeing forced marriages in the US.
Questions? Email kathleenswalker@gmail.com.
