Today, Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz signed a bill that ends child marriage in Connecticut by raising the legal age for marriage to 18 without exceptions. This makes Connecticut the 9th state to completely end child marriage and the second state to end child marriage this year, after Vermont.

Connecticut saw over 1,200 children marry between 2000 and 2014, and prior to 2017 had no minimum marriage age. They are now the second state to succeed in an incremental approach to ending child marriage: a 2017 reform setting an age floor of 16 and ensuring universal judicial review cut rates of child marriage in the state by about half, mitigating harm while advocates and legislators continued building support for an end to child marriage this year.

Tahirih applauds the Maine legislators who have shown their commitment to addressing child marriage in the state for multiple years, and we look forward to supporting continued efforts to end child marriage in Maine. 

Governor Phil Scott signed a law that ends child marriage in the state by raising the legal age for marriage to 18 without exceptions. This victory makes Vermont the 8th state to completely end child marriage and comes after years of advocacy by the sponsor, Rep. Carol Ode, and advocates in Vermont to ensure that children can no longer be coerced into marriage

The Washington Post reporter, Kimberly Kindy, interviewed Tahirih’s public policy experts on child marriage in U.S. You can read the full article here.

The recent reported news by the New York Times alerting that the Administration is considering reinstating family detention is shameful and a complete travesty of President Biden’s promises.

After several years of efforts, Wyoming has taken action to protect children by limiting child marriage in the state. House Bill 7 does not ban child marriage but is an important first step toward ending child marriage in the state. Until this year, Wyoming had no minimum age under which minors could not be married and allowed older minors to marry with nothing more than parental permission.  

After several years of efforts, Alaska has taken action to protect children by limiting child marriage in the state. House Bill 62 does not ban child marriage but is an important first step to ending child marriage in the state. Until this year, Alaska had the lowest minimum marriage age set by law at just 14 and allowed older minors to marry with nothing more than parental permission.  

The new law, which passed both House and Senate with strong bipartisan majorities, raises the state’s minimum marriage age to 16. It also ensures that all minors will go before a judge before marrying, and mandates that minors may not marry a partner more than three years older.