U.S : Married at 10 ?!

 

 

 

Dear friend,

 

 

 

Over the weekend, The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof dropped a bombshell piece on the 300,000 child marriages that have taken place in the United States in the last 20 years.^1,2 The majority of the marriages involved teenage girls wed to older men.³ Five of these marriages involved girls who were only 10 years old.⁴ 

 

"No one asked me for consent," remembered Patricia Abatemarco, who as an eighth grader was married just after her 14th birthday to a man who was 27. "There was nothing romantic about it. I wasn't in love with him. I didn't have a crush on him. I was afraid of him."⁵

 

Now that the media spotlight is shining brightly on this antiquated and abusive practice, we must amp up the pressure.

 

 

 

Sign the petition to demand that your state legislature ban marriage to children under the age of 18. 

 

 

 

As of today, 44 states, including the more progressive states like Oregon and California, still allow child marriages.⁶ In many of these instances, young girls, abused and pregnant, are married off to their abusers, who are typically older men.⁷

 

Only six states--Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island--prohibit the marriage of children under the age of 18.⁸

 

 

 

 

Sign the petition to demand that every state legislature prohibit marriage to anyone under the age of 18.

Sign the petition

 

 

 

 

Considering that unemancipated minors cannot walk into a courthouse and complete most legal transactions like marriage, what typically happens in these cases is that parents, ashamed of their raped and pregnant daughters, will walk them into the courthouse and approve the marriage.⁹ However, even if children are legally entered into the marriage, in most cases, they cannot bring a legal action like divorce in their own name.¹⁰

 

What ensues is nothing short of a nightmare, as these girls and their children are completely dependent on an older man who has all the power in the family.¹¹ Even child brides who are abused have little legal recourse, and are often denied space in women's shelters because they have husbands.¹² 

 

Women and girls deserve to live with their full humanity intact.

 

 

 

Sign the petition to state legislatures, demanding that they ban child marriage as soon as possible! 

 

 

 

Thank you for raising your voice on this important issue !

 

 

 

 

Elisa, Bridget, Iris, Isatou, Jaya, KaeLyn, Kathy, Katie, KD, Kimberly, Lindsay, Luna, Maria, Meena, Melody, and Shaunna, the UltraViolet team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources :

 

 

 

 

1. A 14-Year-Old Bride, Wed to Her Rapist, Playing on a Jungle Gym, The New York Times, June 19, 2021.

2. United States' Child Marriage Problem, Unchained At Last, April 2021.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. A 14-Year-Old Bride, Wed to Her Rapist, Playing on a Jungle Gym, The New York Times, June 19, 2021.

6. United States' Child Marriage Problem, Unchained At Last, April 2021.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Forced and Child Marriage: Survivor Stories, Unchained At Last, accessed June 23, 2021.

10. United States' Child Marriage Problem, Unchained At Last, April 2021.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

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