Unchained works to end child marriage in the United States by helping lawmakers pass legislation to set the marriage age at 18, no exceptions in every U.S. state and by working with federal lawmakers to close the loopholes that allow child marriage. Unchained does this by:

Identifying priority states to focus on each legislative session;

Drafting simple, commonsense legislation to eliminate the dangerous loopholes that allow marriage before 18;

Finding passionate, reliable legislative champion(s) to sponsor and introduce said legislation;

Conducting in-depth research and analysis on the extent of child marriage in the state;

Conducting in-depth research on the specific legal framework in the state that renders the current marriage-age laws dangerous (in conjunction with the law firm White & Case);

Creating written materials (a detailed, extensive version and a one-page summary) based on our research findings and on the FAQs we have heard from legislators across the U.S.;

Building and managing a robust Coalition to End Child Marriage, comprised of local and state groups, activists and survivors;

Identifying local survivors who want to share their story publicly to help effect change;

Meeting with every single state legislator to urge support for ending child marriage – including maintaining a database to track how many have pledged support, with a goal of getting to 100 percent;

Testifying at legislative hearings and submitting written memos of support, and coordinating an avalanche of oral and written testimony from allies and survivors;

Launching email campaigns that allow constituents to ask their own legislators to support ending child marriage;

Raising awareness through media interviews, op-ed articles and social media; and

Planning Chain-Ins and other events – including webinars and briefing sessions – to raise further awareness and garner grassroots support.

Learn more here about Unchained’s progress to end child marriage across the U.S.