Virginia is now the 12th U.S. state to ban child marriage!
Last night Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed legislation championed by Del. Karen Keys-Gammara to make the marriage age 18, no exceptions.
This means Virginia is now closing a dangerous legal loophole that allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to be legally trafficked under the guise of marriage. The loophole also allowed teens to be entered into the serious contract of marriage before they have the full rights of adulthood, which created a nightmarish legal trap for them. And the loophole ignored the reality that marriage before age 18 is recognized as a human rights abuse that destroys nearly every aspect of a girl’s life.
Our research found that some 7,876 minors as young as 12 were entered into marriage in Virginia between 2000 and 2021, including at least 65 who were married since the current law went into effect — and more than 80% were girls wed to adult men. Almost all of the marriages since 2000 involved a minor who was not even old enough to consent to sex with their spouse.
This is a stunning victory for the nearly 9.2 million girls in the 12 states where we have helped to end child marriage. In Virginia, we helped to write the new law after we compiled in-depth legal research conducted on a pro bono basis by the law firms White & Case and DLA Piper. We met with Gov. Youngkin’s office to encourage him to support this legislation — and launched an email campaign to urge his constituents to do the same.
And it worked!
Supporters like Roberts Family Foundation, Focus For Health and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago made our work possible with their generosity. And you made this victory possible, if you took action on our email campaigns, shared our posts on social media or supported us financially.
Virginia has now joined Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan and Washington in embracing the simple, commonsense legislative solution we are pushing in all 50 U.S. states: Set the marriage age at 18, without exceptions. Such legislation harms no one, costs nothing and ends a human rights abuse.
Only 38 states to go — and we can’t do it without you! Please donate now.
Every year, we at Unchained At Last host a parallel event to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women – the world’s largest annual gathering on women’s rights.
This year, we were joined by Ashley Flowers of Crime Junkie, who led a conversation with American forced and child marriage survivors about how they escaped their nightmare and why they now have partnered with us to make sure the U.S. keeps its promise – under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals – to eliminate forced and child marriage by year 2030 and help achieve gender equality.
Some 300 people joined us today at the Church Center for the U.N. and on Zoom for our hybrid event. If you weren’t one of them, don’t worry; you can watch a recording of the event below.
It’s your last chance to register for True Crime: Forced Marriage in the U.S., featuring Crime Junkie’s Ashley Flowers.
We hope to see you either in person at the United Nations or via Zoom tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET for this hybrid parallel event to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women
We’re *this close* to ending child marriage in Virginia, since the legislature has passed HB994 to make the marriage age 18, no exceptions.
And you can get us to the finish line. Please take a minute now to send this pre-filled email to Gov. Glenn Youngkin to urge him to sign HB994.
Excuse us for victory dancing over here like no one is watching — because we just achieved another historic legislative victory. Washington is now the 11th U.S. state where our relentless advocacy has helped to end child marriage. !!!!!!
Gov. Jay Inslee just signed legislation championed by Rep. Monica Stonier and Sen. Derek Stanford — and by us and the Washington Coalition to End Child Marriage that we convene — to make the marriage age in Washington 18, no exceptions.
Today is a happy one for the 8.3 million girls who live in the 11 states where we have helped to end child marriage to date — and it leaves only 39 states to go.
And we have more good news out of one of those states: The New Hampshire senate today unanimously passed a bill to end all marriage before age 18, bringing the Granite State one step closer to ending child marriage.
Bills to end child marriage died in the legislature twice before, but we refused to give up. Alongside our allies in the Washington Coalition to End Child Marriage that we convened, as well as legislative champions like Rep. Stonier, Sen. Stanford and Sen. Manka Dhingra, we Chained-In at the state capitol, in bridal gowns and chains, to urge legislators to finally take action and end child marriage in Washington — something we’ve been pushing them to do for six years. We met one-on-one with nearly every Washington state legislator. We — along with Washington forced and child marriage survivors — testified at legislative hearings and submitted memos of support, and we recruited our allies to do the same. We compiled in-depth legal research conducted on a pro bono basis by the law firms White & Case and DLA Piper. We launched email campaigns to target state legislators.
And it worked!
Supporters like Roberts Family Foundation, Focus For Health and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago made our work possible with their generosity. And you made this victory possible, if you took action on our email campaigns, shared our posts on social media or supported us financially.
The new legislation closes dangerous legal loopholes that allow parents to enter a child of ANY AGE into marriage without any input required from the child, and without any real legal recourse for a child who does not want to marry.
Our research found that some 5,048 minors as young as 13 were entered into marriage in Washington between 2000 and 2021 — and more than 80% were girls wed to adult men. Between 38 and 51 were not even old enough to consent to sex with their spouse.
Furthermore, child marriage creates a nightmarish legal trap that destroys nearly every aspect of an American girl’s life. There’s a reason the U.S. State Department has called marriage before 18 a “human rights abuse.”
Washington has now joined Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and Michigan in embracing the simple, commonsense legislative solution we are pushing in all 50 U.S. states: Set the marriage age at 18, without exceptions. Such legislation harms no one, costs nothing and ends a human rights abuse.
We promise to keep pushing to make sure the U.S. keeps its promise under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to end forced and child marriage by year 2030.
Your support makes that possible! Please donate now.
The Washington Coalition to End Child Marriage includes:
The Virginia senate just voted 39-1 to end child marriage! The bill now heads back to the house for a re-vote, since the senate amended (and improved) the bill.
We also expect senate votes this week in Missouri and New Hampshire, so you will hear from us again soon. We hope it will be with good news.
Only two weeks to go until you get to meet Crime Junkie’s Ashley Flowers at True Crime: Forced Marriage in the U.S., our parallel event to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
And Ashley is not the only powerhouse you’ll get to meet at our March 14 event (in person at the U.N. or virtually via Zoom):
Ashley Flowers, Host of Crime Junkie Podcast (Moderator):
Ashley Flowers is a founder/Chief Creative Officer, podcast creator/host, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author and mother. She is the host of the hit true crime podcast “Crime Junkie” and several other chart-topping shows, including “The Deck” and “The Deck Investigates.” Ashley is the founder & CCO of audiochuck, home to industry-leading, advocacy-driven podcasts that have generated over two billion downloads. In just six years, audiochuck has contributed more than $7.5 million to nonprofit organizations and continues to seek out advocacy opportunities across the globe to help solve cold cases, locate missing persons, fund DNA testing and advocate for marginalized communities. Ashley’s passion for advocacy also led her to establish Season of Justice, a nonprofit that provides financial resources to help solve cold cases.
Chani Getter, LCSW, Survivor and scholar-in-residence at Footsteps:
Chani Getter (they/them) is writer, speaker, therapist, and interfaith minister. Their life and work have been featured in two documentary films, “One of Us” (2017) and “Devout” (2012). At 23, Rev. Chani began a courageous journey to live authentically. There was no model or path for what they set out to do. They made one. Decades later, Rev. Chani supports people to discover themselves, embrace their truth, and celebrate their milestones. Rev. Chani is also an award-winning activist and educator. For nearly 20 years, Rev. Chani has supported and nurtured a growing community of women, trans, gender queer, men and non-binary people across North America and Europe. The Jewish Women’s Archive highlights Rev. Chani’s pivotal role in supporting the formation and development of organizations and resources for LGBTQ+ people, including those wanting to stay connected to their Orthodox roots. Learn more at chanigetter.com.
Houry Geudelekian, Survivor and past chair of NGO CSW/NY:
Houry Geudelekian is a global leader in intersectional feminist network organizing, spearheading collaborative movements to achieve transformational change in gender equality in the U.N. space and is the U.N. Coordinator of Unchained At Last. Houry has skillfully led campaigns, forums and coalitions for global policy change. As Chair of NGO CSW/NY, she spearheaded the Beijing+25 campaign as well as convened a global Civil Society Advisory Group to support U.N. Women’s Generation Equality Forums (GEF). She leads high-level engagement with U.N. Agencies, civil society networks, Member States and other actors to advance policy efforts on care-work, child marriage, gender-based violence and other important topics. Houry organized numerous multilateral forums which generated over 25,000 participants and $40 billion committed towards gender equality. She brings dedication, passion and humor to a challenging field, and has been seen making the U.N. Secretary General laugh on gender-equality panels at UNHQ. Born in Beirut, Lebanon to an Armenian family, Houry moved to New York City in the late ‘70s and started a business that grew to over 30 team members and 2,000 constituents. This business continues to flourish, although she has transitioned to full time work in the human-rights field. Houry is fluent in Armenian and English as well as spoken Arabic and French.
Davinder Kaur, Survivor and author of “Forced to Marry Him”:
Davinder Kaur was born and raised in Bradford, England. She briefly lived in Denmark and traveled Australia for a year before moving to the United States in the early 1990s. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the age of 40 while working full time and raising her three children, who are her pride and joy. In the late 1980s, Davinder was forced to marry a man she didn’t know. When she was only 14 years old, the marriage was arranged and set to occur when she turned 18. After four long years of internal turmoil and despair, she had two choices: adhere to the customs and traditions of her family, or risk bringing dishonor to their home. Davinder didn’t like either option, so she made a plan—a plan to survive. In her first book, “Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It,” Davinder tells of the pain, lies, and betrayal she suffered at the hands of those who were meant to protect her the most. But her story doesn’t end there. Davinder’s willingness to speak out and fight not only saved her life but the lives of many other women and young girls over the years. She offers courage and strength to those who can’t advocate for themselves, and she works with organizations all over the world to help end arranged and forced marriages. Davinder gives a voice to the voiceless as she breaks down walls to eradicate cultural and traditional abuse. Today, Davinder enjoys cooking and traveling, loves cruises, and her two favorite places thus far are Italy and London. You can find Davinder on Twitter or Instagram @luchanik or visit her website at forcedtomarryhim.com.
Fraidy Reiss, Survivor and founder/executive director of Unchained At Last:
Fraidy Reiss is a survivor turned activist. She was 19 when she was forced to marry a stranger who turned out to be violent. She lost all sexual and reproductive rights, forced to have unprotected marital sex and to have two children. When she finally escaped that marriage, her family shunned her. Fraidy rebuilt her life and founded Unchained At Last, an NGO that combats forced and child marriage in the United States through direct services and systems change. Fraidy’s research and writing on forced and child marriage have been published extensively, making her one of the foremost experts on these abuses in the U.S. She has been featured in books (including as one of the titular women in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s “The Book of Gutsy Women”), films and countless TV, radio and print news stories. Through Unchained, Fraidy has supported some 1,000 survivors as they fled forced marriage. She also leads a national movement that has banned child marriage in 10 U.S. states – and counting.
The Washington senate clearly heard us: It just voted 48-1 to end child marriage!
Now all we need is for Gov. Jay Inslee to sign HB1455, championed by Rep. Monica Stonier and Sen. Derek Stanford — and Washington will become the 11th state where we have helped to eliminate a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives. #18NoExceptions
We’re just a month away from True Crime: Forced Marriage in the U.S. with Crime Junkie’s Ashley Flowers. Will we see you there?
Join us March 14 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET — in person at the United Nations in New York City or virtually via Zoom. Register here.
