Forced and child marriage in Texas is a serious problem with a simple, first-step solution — ensuring that only legal adults empowered to advocate for themselves can enter the legal contract and potentially lifelong commitment that marriage entails. SB 1705 / HB 3932 is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that sets the legal minimum marriage age at 18, with an exception for minors emancipated by court order. Read our backgrounder to learn more about the child marriage problem in Texas, how the current laws fail to prioritize child protection, and how this bill addresses the problem.
See AllProtecting Children in Texas from Forced Marriage and Other Harms of Child Marriage: Proposed Legislative Reforms
Latest News
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Not a ‘Groom,’ but ‘Grooming’: It’s Past Time to End Child Marriage in the United States
Tahirih’s Director of Public Policy, Casey Carter Swegman, wrote an op-ed in Ms. Magazine in support of the Child Marriage Prevention Act, which would go a long way towards ending […]
November 8, 2024 -
Staff Spotlight: Eileen Espinal
The Tahirih Justice Center has served over 34,000 immigrant survivors fleeing gender-based violence since 1997. Across our five locations, our dedicated staff members provide holistic trauma-informed services to immigrant survivors […]
October 23, 2024
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Survivor Voices
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Anastasia
I came to the U.S. in the winter of 2006. Life back home in Mexico was tough for me and my family. I dreamt of going to college and graduating but with my family’s economic status, that dream was too costly and impossible.
At least I was able to graduate high school and that is something I am proud of since I was also working at the time to help my family. I was always looking for an opportunity to have a better life as a young woman.June 23, 2023 -
Camila
“I hope my story is helpful to someone else…and can inspire many women to be stronger. We need to help young women identify toxic relationships, so that there are fewer Camilas that go through such difficult things, let alone have our children suffer.”
November 21, 2022
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