Unchained works hard to educate the public and policymakers about forced and child marriage in the U.S. through various channels, including presentations, training sessions for key groups, social media and news media. Here are some of Unchained’s favorite media highlights, including television, radio and print stories about Unchained and op-ed articles Unchained’s founder/executive director, Fraidy Reiss, has written.
1/21/2025 – Fraidy co-authors an article with Columbia University researchers published in the Journal of Family Theory & Review that points out glaring gaps in existing research on forced marriage.
10/8/2024 – In Ms. Magazine, Fraidy calls on Sen. Dick Durbin to amend or withdraw his federal bill that would contradict, undermine and obstruct the national and global commitment to end child marriage by the end of the decade.
10/1/2024 – Rotary Magazine profiles Fraidy and Unchained’s work to end forced and child marriage in the U.S. in its October 2024 issue cover story.
9/28/2024 – Fraidy takes the stage at the 2024 Global Citizen Festival with child marriage activist Payzee Mahmod and Missouri State Senator Holly Thompson Rehder to call for an end to child marriage in the U.S. and around the world.
7/9/2024 – The Guardian features stories of two survivors-turned-activists working to end child marriage in the U.S. alongside Unchained, including the challenging opposition they have faced in the process.
6/10/2024 – Fraidy joins actress/activist Alyssa Milano on her Sorry Not Sorry podcast to reveal the shocking truth that much of the United States, including California, has no minimum age for marriage and to get into the roots of this issue and the harm it does.
5/24/2024 – Fraidy and actress/activist Alyssa Milano refuse to stay silent while California Asm. Ash Kalra blocks the widely popular bill to end child marriage, a human rights abuse that destroys girls’ lives — so they blast him and the two groups that are pressuring him to block the legislation, American Civil Liberties Union of California and Planned Parenthood of California, in Kalra’s hometown paper, The Mercury News.
5/14/2024 – New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof gives Unchained and Fraidy a special shout out in his memoir Chasing Hope, recalling how Fraidy’s work to end child marriage in the U.S. brought the issue to his attention, leading him to extensively cover it in his columns.
5/2/2024 – Fraidy illustrates the impacts and prevalence of child marriage in the U.S., as well as what society can do to fix it, at Global Citizen NOW alongside Dr. Kakenya Ntaiya, founder of Kakenya’s Dream, Tubi Retta of Girls Opportunity Alliance at the Obama Foundation and child marriage survivor and activist Payzee Mahmod.
3/28/2024 – Global Citizen profiles Fraidy’s work via Unchained to end child marriage across the U.S., and specifically in California.
1/19/2024 – The Seattle Times covers Unchained’s first-ever Silent Chain-In, held in Olympia, where the silence sent a loud message: It is time for Washington legislators to pass HB1455 and end child marriage.
1/9/2024 – Reading this firsthand account of Fraidy’s forced marriage, forced marital sex and forced parenthood — published in HuffPost — might be painful for you. But please do it anyway, because writing it was even more painful for Fraidy. And the world needs to know. (The piece broke HuffPost records by garnering 600,000 views the first day.)
12/2/2023 – Unchained’s research on child marriage in the U.S. is once again published in a peer-reviewed journal, this time in Child Abuse & Neglect. Co-authored with Prof. Alissa Koski and Kaya Van Roost of McGill University, the study shows that child marriage remains legal and happening at an alarming rate in most of the U.S. and that, like in other countries, child marriage here reflects a devaluation of girls.
9/28/2023 – Fraidy authors an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee detailing how child marriage is particularly egregious in California and why ending it is crucial.
8/21/2023 – The hosts of the Crime Junkie podcast give Unchained a special mid episode shout-out and sponsorship while discussing the horror of child marriage in the U.S. today.
8/21/2023 – Ending child marriage in Connecticut took Unchained and its allies more than half a decade, but the victory was worth the work, as CT Insider explains.
8/9/2023 – Fraidy joins the hosts of The Girl and the Gov podcast to explain the difference between a forced and an arranged marriage and to answer why only some states have ended child marriage.
8/3/2023 – The Los Angeles Times breaks down the uniquely challenging legislative battle Unchained faces to end child marriage in California, including surprising opponents.
7/12/2023 – The Guardian details Michigan’s journey toward ending child marriage, including Unchained’s years of persistent advocacy.
7/5/2023 – Nonprofit news outlet The 19th explains that 10 states have passed bans on child marriage and looks at how advocates like Unchained continue to push lawmakers to end the practice.
6/23/2023 – CalMatters examines the pervasive child marriage problem in California and Unchained’s tireless work to end it through the lens of Unchained’s Sacramento Chain-In and research into the prevalence of child marriage in the state.
6/22/2023 – The Sacramento Bee highlights Unchained’s Sacramento Chain-In to push California lawmakers to introduce and pass a long overdue bill to end all marriage before 18 in the state, without exceptions. (Read a non-paywalled version here.)
6/2/2023 – Unchained’s emergency Chain-In in front of the Connecticut state house led to immediate action when the senate voted unanimously that same day to pass pending legislation to end child marriage, as Connecticut Insider and Hearst Connecticut Media explain.
3/24/2023 – The Times of Israel showcases “Unseen Housewives,” Unchained’s outrageous, provocative “trailer” about child marriage in the U.S. and dives into its inception and creation as well as Unchained’s continued advocacy to end child marriage in the U.S. that inspired the project.
3/17/2023 – The Washington Post describes Unchained’s uphill battle to end child marriage in the U.S., despite pushback advocates receive from apathetic lawmakers and clueless opponents.
3/15/2023 – In conjunction with healthcare ad agency Area 23, Unchained releases “Unseen Housewives,” its outrageous, provocative “trailer” for a show that must not go on: child marriage in the U.S.
1/10/2023 – Population Media Center’s The State of: Women podcast interviews Fraidy about how forced and child marriage intersect with issues of consent and bodily autonomy.
9/16/2022 – BBC World Service, the world’s largest broadcaster, interviews Fraidy about her work to end forced and child marriage in the United States and Unchained’s recent legislative victory in Massachusetts. The interview airs on multiple NPR affiliates, including WBUR in Boston. (Link no longer available.)
9/9/2022 – Fraidy is featured in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s new Apple TV+ docuseries, Gutsy, as one of the “world’s boldest and bravest women” who have made an impact in their community and on the world. Fraidy makes her appearance in the Gutsy Women Are Rebel Hearts episode of Gutsy, which examines her escape from an abusive forced marriage and her relentless advocacy to end forced and child marriage in the United States.
11/29/2021 – Unchained’s groundbreaking research on the prevalence of child marriage in the United States is published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, in a supplement alongside other research funded by the Gates Foundation about child marriage globally.
11/12/2021 – The New York Times features an interview with Fraidy about her work to end forced and child marriage in the United States, one of multiple interviews with women leaders around the world.
10/15/2021 – Vicky Nguyen interviews Fraidy and child marriage survivor Chloe about our new study of child marriage in the U.S. and how child marriage affects some 300,000 children here at home for Top Story with Tom Llamas on NBC News Now.
6/19/2021 – Nicholas Kristof writes in the New York Times about our recent study of child marriage in the U.S. and our “heroic work” to end it — which has led so far to five U.S. states banning this “repugnant” practice.
6/3/2021 – The New York Times highlights women, including Fraidy, who use wedding dresses in unconventional ways, even to advocate for social justice, as is the case with Unchained’s Chain-In protests against forced and child marriage in the U.S.
4/11/2021 – Fraidy authors an op-ed for Insider about our new child marriage study, which found nearly 300,000 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 — and 60,000 marriages occurred at an age or age difference that should have been considered a sex crime.
12/24/2020 – Al-Jazeera investigates the pervasiveness of forced and child marriage in the U.S. and around the world, including Fraidy’s story and expertise, while also examining how covid-19 has created a “shadow pandemic” of these and other human rights abuses.
10/23/2020 – Journalist Elizabeth Vargas interviews Fraidy about forced and child marriage in the U.S., while four American child marriage survivors share their heartbreaking stories, for this two-hour A&E documentary special now airing on Hulu.
10/12/2020 – Andy Levine interviews Fraidy for his Second Act Stories podcast, calling her story “among the most inspiring tales” he’s ever featured on his show. Fraidy’s story resonated with listeners, as well, who voted her episode as the series’ best episode of 2020.
7/14/2020 – Author Bruce Feiler features Fraidy’s story among a compilation of life stories from Americans who’ve been through major life changes for Life Is in the Transitions (Penguin Press). The book quickly hits the New York Times bestseller list.
3/4/2020 – Knots, a feature-length documentary film from filmmaker Kate Ryan Brewer, premieres at the Omaha Film Festival and is scheduled to screen at several other film festivals around the world. The film follows three forced marriage survivors in the U.S. — including Fraidy.
11/13/2019 – Woman, from filmmakers Anastasia Mikova and Yann Arthus-Bertrand, makes its U.S. debut in New York City. The sweeping documentary is based on interviews with some 2,000 women around the globe, including Fraidy. In a world where women are forced to marry, deprived of an education, forbidden from going outside on their own and subjected to myriad other abuses, the film is a message of love and hope.
10/1/2019 – Fraidy is featured in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s The Book of Gutsy Women (Simon & Schuster), in which they share the stories of the “gutsy women” who have inspired them — women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions and get the job done.
9/29/2019 – Fraidy appears on the Tamron Hall Show on ABC to dissect the pervasive issue of forced and child marriage in the U.S.
4/25/2019 – Journalist Elizabeth Vargas interviews Fraidy about forced and child marriage in the U.S., while four American child marriage survivors share their heartbreaking stories, for this two-hour documentary special on A&E.
3/8/2019 – Fraidy and Chelsea Clinton call out legislators and some feminists for their refusal to end child marriage in the U.S. in this joint op-ed article published in Refinery29 on International Women’s Day.
2/15/2019 – NJ Monthly Magazine profiles Fraidy’s work as a forced marriage survivor-turned-advocate.
1/20/2019 – Soledad O’Brien of Matter of Fact (airing on 180 stations around the country) talks with Fraidy about a dangerous loophole in U.S. immigration law: It sets no minimum age to petition for a foreign spouse/fiancé(e) or to be the beneficiary of a spousal/fiancé(e) visa. As a result, girls here are forced to marry adult men overseas who want a U.S. visa and a child bride.
8/31/2018 – Great Big Story features Fraidy as the fifth “defender” in a five-part series about fearless, headstrong, undeterred women fighting for change in the spirit of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
6/23/2018 – The #MeToo movement hasn’t come for child marriage yet. But Unchained has, as Buzzfeed reports.
6/1/2018 – Nicholas Kristof writes a column in the New York Times about child marriage in the U.S. and progress in Unchained’s growing movement to end this human-rights abuse.
5/30/2018 – The Star-Ledger publishes an op-ed Fraidy wrote about Asm. Gary Schaer’s move to hold up legislation that would end child marriage in New Jersey. Fraidy details what she endured as a teenage bride when she was forced to marry, and challenges Schaer’s attempts to allow the same abuses to happen to other girls.
5/24/2018 – WBUR’s Here & Now (NPR) speaks with Fraidy about progress in the movement to end child marriage in the U.S.
5/13/2018 – NowThis airs a video assessing progress in the movement to end child marriage after Delaware becomes the first U.S. state to end it and recognizes Unchained’s leadership in pushing for change.
5/7/2018 – NowThis airs a video of Unchained’s first Chain-In Flash Mob.
4/14/2018 – Fraidy gives a powerful TEDx Talk at TEDxFoggyBottom2018. She explains how her own traumatic experience inspired her to found Unchained to help other women and girls in the U.S. to escape forced marriages.
3/22/2018 – Why have legislators abandoned 17-year-old girls? In this op-ed article published by The Hill, Fraidy demands answers from lawmakers who have turned their backs on the girls at highest risk of child marriage.
3/20/2018 – Fraidy is one of three child and forced marriage survivors to share their traumatic experiences in this video for Condé Nast’s Iris.
3/9/2018 – In this video op-ed for NowThis, Fraidy explains how archaic legal loopholes allow children in all 50 U.S. states to be forced to marry and what Unchained is doing to change that.
3/6/2018 – The rate of child marriage is declining globally, but it will not disappear until we pass legislation around the world, including in the U.S., to end this human rights abuse, as Fraidy tells CBSN.
2/9/2018 – BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour speaks with Fraidy about the alarming rate of child marriage in the U.S.
2/6/2018 – The Guardian examines child marriage in the U.S., including comments from Fraidy and information about Unchained’s work to end this human-rights abuse.
12/11/2017 – Forbes names Fraidy one of five women who are tackling some of the world’s “most urgent issues.” The Forbes piece recognizes Fraidy’s fierce leadership in the national movement to end forced and child marriage in the U.S.
11/16/2017 – Thomson Reuters Foundation News publishes an op-ed article Fraidy wrote about her personal story and her work, through Unchained, to end forced and child marriage in the U.S.
11/16/2017 – CNN publishes an op-ed article Fraidy wrote about the rate of child marriage in the U.S.
10/23/2017 – BBC shines a spotlight on child marriage in the U.S., including an interview with Fraidy.
7/26/2017 – Fraidy writes an update for Nicholas Kristof‘s blog in the New York Times, showing that many U.S. legislators still cling to child marriage.
7/6/2017 – At first, almost no one believed Fraidy Reiss when she said child marriage happens in the United States, reports PBS’ Frontline.
Summer 2017 – Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, writing for Ms. Magazine, examines forced child marriage in the U.S. and Unchained’s work to end this human-rights abuse. (Not available online.)
6/20/2017 – NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro of Weekend Edition speaks with Fraidy about Unchained’s work to end child marriage in every U.S. state.
6/14/2017 – Full Frontal With Samantha Bee reveals the shocking truth about child marriage in the U.S. and recognizes Unchained’s leadership role in working to end it.
5/26/2017 – Nicholas Kristof writes a column in the New York Times about child marriage in the United States, including comments from Fraidy and information about her story and her work, through Unchained, to end forced and child marriage in the U.S.
5/16/2017 – The Star-Ledger publishes an op-ed article Fraidy wrote about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s outrageous conditional veto of the bill that would have ended child marriage in New Jersey.
5/7/2017 – Along with a stunning documentary about an activist working to end child marriage in Nepal, CBS News features this interview with Fraidy, who gets emotional when asked about her parents: They shunned her more than a decade ago, when she fled her abusive arranged marriage. Additionally, CBSN posts this web extra with more footage of the interview with Fraidy.
3/17/2017 – Fraidy talks about her own traumatic experience in an abusive arranged marriage, and her work to end child marriage across the U.S., on Public Radio International’s The World.
2/12/2017 – Washington Post publishes Fraidy’s op-ed article about child marriage on the front page of the Sunday Outlook section. The article reveals that nearly a quarter-million children as young as 12 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010, mostly girls wed to adult men. The op-ed is among the five most-read articles on the Post website; it garners nearly a million unique views.
1/30/2017 – Fraidy and Jasvinder Sanghera of Karma Nirvana (UK) share their surprisingly common personal experiences on BBC’s The Conversation: Both faced a forced marriage as a teen. Both were shunned by their families when they rejected the marriage. Both later founded NGOs to help other women and girls.
10/16/2016 – The New York Daily News describes the traumatic events that led Fraidy to found Unchained in 2011 and help other women and girls escaping forced marriages.
9/13/2016 – Fraidy shares her personal story on PBS Newshour, as part of a two-part segment about forced marriage in the U.S.
2/23/2016 – Child marriage “is legal in the United States and … is happening in the United States,” Fraidy explains in this Al Jazeera America interview.
12/28/2015 – Fraidy explains on NPR’s The Takeaway why child marriage is an urgent problem in the U.S.
10/13/2015 – The New York Times publishes Fraidy’s op-ed article shedding light on the U.S.’s dirty little secret: Child marriage, including why and how it happens in the U.S.
6/21/2015 – Fraidy sits with PRI’s The World to share her story of escaping a forced marriage and going on to help others in the U.S. do the same.
4/13/2015 – NPR’s All Things Considered looks at forced marriage in the U.S., including an interview with Fraidy.
3/20/2015 – The story of Fraidy, the wounded healer, as told by the New York Times.
6/15/2014 – Fraidy and Rachel Martin talk about the dark side of “arranged marriage” for NPR’s Sunday Conversation.
2/3/2014 – Fraidy discusses forced marriage in the U.S. with Tom Ashbrook for NPR’s On Point.
1/22/2014 – Why Fraidy founded the only organization dedicated to helping women in the U.S. to escape forced marriages, as told by Al Jazeera America.
2/10/2013 – The Jewish Daily Forward explains how Fraidy’s experiences led her to found Unchained.
11/19/2012 – Fraidy shares her survivor-turned-advocate story with Thomson Reuters Foundation News.
8/20/2012 – Fraidy appears on HuffPo Live to take on a group of panelists who are enamored of arranged marriage. (Link no longer available.)
4/25/2012 – The op-ed article Fraidy wrote, described below, was republished April 25 in the Huffington Post. (Link no longer available.)
4/24/2012 – The op-ed article Fraidy wrote, described below, was republished in the Washington Post. (Link no longer available.)
4/15/2012 – Women in the U.S. in 2012 fear, legitimately, that they might lose their children if they lose their religion, as Fraidy explained in this opinion piece published on the front page of the Star-Ledger‘s Perspective section. The Star-Ledger also published an accompanying breakout box about Unchained and a photo of Fraidy that ran with the headline, “Breaking the chains: Shackled by an arranged marriage and religious customs, a New Jersey woman finds her freedom and tries to help others, too.”
9/11/2012 – Fraidy is interviewed on the Jeff Probst Show on NBC TV. (Link no longer available.)
8/3/2011 – Orthodox Jewish law does not allow a woman to divorce her husband, as explained in this op-ed article by Unchained founder/executive director Fraidy Reiss published in The Jewish Daily Forward.
