The United Nations Human Rights Committee took our recommendation and pressed the United States to do what we have been asking it to do: Ban child marriage.
Last month, we told you about the joint submission we co-wrote to the U.N. Human Rights Committee, together with Equality Now and others, calling out the United States for failing to end child marriage.
And the Committee listened. It said that it was “concerned” that marriage under the age of 18 is legal in 40 U.S. states, and it urged the U.S. to prohibit child marriage in all U.S. states. You can find the Committee’s concluding observations here.
Child marriage remains legal in most of the U.S. and continues to happen at an alarming rate – mostly to girls who are married to adult men. We have helped to ban child marriage in 10 U.S. states so far. Only 40 states to go!
Please help us raise $100k in the last 50 days of 2023, so we can continue leading the national movement to end forced and child marriage in all 50 U.S. states.
A generous donor will match every dollar you give, up to $75,000.
This month, when the United Nations Human Rights Committee reviews the United States’ commitment to human and political rights, we want to make sure it knows how far behind this country is in stopping the abuse that is child marriage.
Every several years, all U.N. Member States submit a periodic report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee summarizing their implementation of the rights laid out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty adopted in 1966. These reports are reviewed through an interactive discussion between the State under review and other U.N. Member States, resulting in an “outcome report” and recommendations for improvement. As part of of this process, the Committee considers joint submissions written by stakeholders including NGOs, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, academic institutions and research institutes.
Together with Equality Now, the ERA Coalition, the US End FGM/C Network and the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights, we have written a joint submission for the Committee, emphasizing the United States’ failure to end child marriage.
In addition to the U.S.’s negligence regarding child marriage, our submission notes other major failings pertaining to the ICCPR, including the lack of an explicit right to equality on the basis of sex, the lack of comprehensive protections against female genital mutilation and the continued prevalence of online sexual exploitation and abuse.
It’s time for the United States to be held accountable.
Read the full joint submission here.
Just when you thought you would never have fun again, we at Unchained At Last invite you to join us for the pandemic-proof Movie Under the Stars: A Drive-In Featuring the Film “Knots.” All proceeds will help us continue our national movement against the human rights abuses examined in the film: forced and child marriage in the U.S.
Having fun should always be this meaningful — and safe.
Knots: A Forced Marriage Story, written and directed by Kate Ryan Brewer, is a feature-length documentary film that examines the truth about forced marriage in the U.S. through the complicated experiences of three survivors, including our founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss.
This film includes discussion of rape and other forms of violence that may not be suitable for children.
This is a covid-safe event, at which guests will stay in their own cars for the entire two-hour event, and cars will be spaced 6 feet apart so guests can roll down their windows and still stay socially distant. Restrooms will not be available. Ticket price is per person, not per car, to encourage guests to carpool only with those in their “pandemic pod.”
Full event details and safety precautions are here.
You can still donate here to help women, girls and others in the U.S. who are fleeing forced marriages.
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.
