Unchained started—and now leads—a growing national movement to end child marriage.
Child marriage, or marriage before age 18, was legal in all 50 U.S. states, all five territories and the District of Columbia, as of 2017. Thanks to Unchained’s relentless advocacy, that is changing. To date, Unchained has helped to ban child marriage in 18 states, two territories and D.C.
CHILD MARRIAGE LEGISLATION: PROGRESS MAP
Click on any state or territory for more detailed information.
YOUNGEST MARRIAGE AGE ALLOWED
Here are the four main reasons we must end child marriage in the U.S.:
- 1. Marriage creates a nightmarish legal trap for minors, who have limited legal rights. Indeed, all marriage before age 18 is recognized globally as forced marriage.
- 2. Marriage before age 18 destroys nearly every aspect of a girl’s life: health, education, economic opportunities, physical safety, and sexual and reproductive rights.
- 3. Laws that allow child marriage also legalize and incentivize the trafficking of minors under the guise of marriage.
- 4. Child marriage often creates a workaround for statutory rape laws.
Unchained’s research shows nearly 315,000 children as young as 10 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2021 – mostly girls wed to adult men.Join the movement to end child marriage in the U.S.
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