Unchained At Last

Survivor-led nonprofit organization dedicated to ending #ForcedMarriage & #ChildMarriage in the U.S. through direct services & systems change. #18NoExceptions

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

We're hiring a Clinical Social Worker to support women, girls and others as they avoid, escape from and rebuild their lives after forced marriage. Learn more and apply: https://t.co/oQs6PGRq79

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

Our carousel shares just a few of the lines that stopped us in our tracks.

Read the full piece. Share it. And keep this conversation going.

https://t.co/dudluRQSYY

#EndChildMarriage #18NoExceptions #UnchainedAtLast

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

If you read one thing about child marriage in the U.S. this week, make it Nicholas Kristof's latest column in The New York Times.

His piece asks a question we confront every day:

How is child marriage still legal in the United States?

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

@NickKristof Read his latest piece in @nytimes and join the fight to end child marriage:
https://t.co/07iAuRNxSL
18. NO EXCEPTIONS. EVERY STATE.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

Every girl deserves a childhood.
Not a marriage.
On this International Day of the Girl, @NickKristof shines a much-needed spotlight on the fight to end child marriage in America.
The timing couldn't be more powerful.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

@NickKristof California just became the 18th state where we have helped end child marriage without exceptions.
Now there are 32 states to go.
Protecting children from human rights abuse is a non-partisan issue.
18. No exceptions.
Read Kristof's full column: https://t.co/07iAuRNxSL

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

You might not expect who's standing in the way of ending child marriage.
In his latest New York Times column, @NickKristof examines opposition to efforts to make 18 the minimum marriage age, with no exceptions, in Illinois and Colorado.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

@NickKristof The same thing happened in California, where some progressive organizations blocked a child marriage ban for nine years. Until they finally admitted this year that they got this one wrong.

#EndChildMarriage #18NoExceptions #UnchainedAtLast

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

@people @DeutscheWelle So we're going to celebrate this victory — and use every bit of attention it generates to keep moving forward.
Eighteen down.
Thirty-two to go.
Let's get to work.
#18NoExceptions #EndChildMarriage #UnchainedAtLast

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

California made headlines.
And we are thrilled to see the world talking about what just happened here.
After a nine-year fight, California has banned child marriage. AB 1267 makes 18 the minimum marriage age, with no exceptions.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

@PEOPLE. @DeutscheWelle. International outlets. Local news. National news.
People are paying attention.
Good.
Because now we need to talk about what comes next.
California is #18.
Child marriage remains legal under varying exceptions in 32 states.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

18, no exceptions.
So yes, we're taking a minute to enjoy this view.
And then?
There are 32 more mountains waiting for us.
#18NoExceptions #EndChildMarriage #UnchainedAtLast

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

Our founder and leader, Fraidy Reiss, just came back from hiking Machu Picchu.
And, well… the metaphor feels a little different now.
For nine years, Fraidy and Unchained At Last climbed one hell of a mountain in California.
There were setbacks. Switchbacks. Closed doors.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

Protests in bridal gowns and chains. Hearings. Testimony. Coalition building. And plenty of moments when the summit seemed impossibly far away.
But we kept climbing.
And this week, we got there.
California became the 18th state where we have helped make the marriage age

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

With AB 1267, California is saying something incredibly simple:

Childhood should not include marriage.

18. No exceptions.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

Until now, California had no minimum marriage age.

Children as young as ZERO could legally be entered into marriage.

Marriage could provide a legal workaround for statutory rape laws and
create vulnerabilities to trafficking and exploitation.

No longer.

[Unchained At Last @UnchainedAtLast]

With AB 1267, California is saying something incredibly simple:

Childhood should not include marriage.

18. No exceptions.