Right now, in America, child marriage is legal in 37 states. 4 of those states have no minimum age requirement. The majority of Americans are not even aware of the problem that we have right here at home. These lax state laws have contributed to the influx of child trafficking across our borders.
Numbers don’t lie. Child marriage destroys economic opportunities, health, education, and quality of life for our girls. Statistics show that girls who marry are:
- 31% more likely to live in future poverty;
- 50% more likely to drop out of high school;
- 4 times less likely to graduate college;
- Victims of domestic violence at rates of 3 times greater than the national average;
- And almost 80% of these marriages end in divorce.
We can, and should, demand more for our girls.
Senator Holly Thompson Rehder is working to end child marriage. As a child bride herself, getting married at just 15-years-old, she knows that marriage is a commitment that should be made by two consenting adults. Period. You can read her special editorial published in the Kansas City Star here.
Recently, Holly was asked to speak before a crowd of 60,000 people at the 2024 Global Citizen Festival in New York City. She, along with Fraidy Reiss, the founder and executive director of Unchained At Last, and Payzee Mahmod, child marriage survivor and activist, spoke of the atrocities of child marriage globally, as well as right here in the US.
Holly is determined to end child marriage in the United States. As a member of the National Coalition to End Child Marriage, and in partnership with Unchained At Last, follow Holly’s social media to keep up with her and this important movement as she speaks in capitols across the US.
“Women have so much more opportunity than we had 50 years ago when marriage before 18 was more common. No longer is it the norm for us to be “barefoot in the kitchen,” unless that’s what a woman chooses for herself. With statistics showing us that 79% of child marriages end in divorce, 50% drop out of high school, and over 30% are trapped in poverty, this legislative change is past its time to pass.”–Senator Holly Thompson Rehder
