Virginia becomes first Southern state to abolish child marriage April 16, 2024 Virginia became the [...]
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Help end child marriage in Virginia. Join Zonta USA, Unchained at Last and others to end this human rights abuse that traps children, mostly girls, and impacts their access to education, social services, and is linked to domestic violence, financial abuse and early pregnancy and health consequences.
Child marriage, or marriage before age 18, was legal in all 50 U.S. states as of 2017, based on archaic laws at the state level. In 2023, 10 States have eliminated child marriage.
Delaware and New Jersey in 2018 became the first two states to end this human rights abuse, followed by American Samoa in 2018, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Pennsylvania and Minnesota in 2020, Rhode Island and New York in 2021, Massachusetts in 2022 and Vermont and Connecticut in 2023.
However, child marriage remains legal in 40 states and is happening in the U.S. at an alarming rate: Unchained’s groundbreaking research revealed that nearly 300,000 children as young as 10 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 – mostly girls wed to adult men.
Learn about Child Marriage in Virginia from Unchained at Last’s Research
Please visit and share our website www.stopchildmarriages.org and TAKE ACTION to message your state representatives to End Child Marriage in Your State.
Act Now- Message your State Representatives
Zonta Club of Fairfax
Zonta Club of
Number: # of children married 2000-2021 7,876
Youngest marriage age allowed by law Age 16
Legislative Status
No legislation to end child marriage is currently pending inVirginia.
History In 2016, lawmakers passed HB703/SB415, which set themarriage age at 16 if emancipated but does not protect 16- and17-year-olds.
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