We’re proud to share our new report, Making Progress, But Still Falling Short: A Report on the Movement to End Child Marriage in America. This report contains the latest analysis on all twenty-one states that have recently enacted laws to end or limit child marriage, calling out features that make them strong or weak.
Making Progress, But Still Falling Short outlines what more needs to be done to end child marriage in America at the state and federal levels— tackling more than just changes to marriage-age laws. It also includes a call to action with specific recommendations for policymakers on how to address child marriage in the United States. The report serves as a complement to our Child Marriage in the U.S.: Survivor Story Compilation that was released earlier this month, in which 20 survivor voices are featured to provide a window into the many ways that children can be forced and coerced into marriage in modern-day America.
Tahirih has long been a leader in the U.S. movement to end child marriage, marshalling the first major reform bill in Virginia in 2016. In 2017, Tahirih released the first-ever comprehensive analysis of marriage-age laws in all 50 states and Washington, DC that leave children more vulnerable to forced marriage. Since the publication of our first report, significant progress has been made, but alarming gaps still remain.
