Believe it or not, until 2018, child marriage (under the age of 18) was legal in all 50 United States. Fraidy Reiss of Unchained At Last is working to end forced and child marriage throughout the entire U.S., a fight she and her team have been working at since 2015 for hundreds of thousands of reasons: more than 300,000 U.S. minors have been legally entered into marriage since 2000, mostly girls wed to adult men, and at least 60,000 of them were not old enough to consent to sex with their spouse.
Unchained At Last is the only nonprofit dedicated to ending forced and child marriage in the United States through direct services and systems change. Through Unchained, Fraidy provides crucial, often life-saving services to girls and young women; to date, the organization has helped over 1,110 survivors. She founded the organization in 2011 after her personal history in a forced (and abusive) marriage at age 19. After escaping her situation 12 years later, earning a college degree, and enjoying a successful career in journalism, Fraidy turned her energies to “unchaining” young people who are not old enough to advocate for themselves or divorce, and who are often at the mercy of their families and adult spouses.
Unchained does its advocacy work through collaboration with lawmakers and organizations as well as public educational campaigns about the issue, which she and the U.S. Department of State call a “human rights abuse.”
“We have helped enact legislation that prohibits child marriage in 13 states so far and we are continuing to focus on the 37 others,” said Fraidy. “The U.S. has joined 193 other countries in condemning child marriage as a ‘harmful practice’ and has vowed to eliminate it by year 2030, but lags behind the others. It is shameful that the U.S. is not at the forefront of this United Nations initiative; we are advocating that our government keep that promise.”
She hopes Missouri and Oregon will join the 13 others this year. (At the time of this writing, the mayor of Washington, D.C. has signed the district’s bill, which is awaiting Congressional approval to be implemented.)
Fighting legislation that would harm girls—and create more victims
This women’s history-maker spends thousands of hours a year on her grueling travel schedule to meet with hundreds of legislators, but she is undeterred in the fight.
“We keep on going because as a forced marriage survivor, I care too deeply about this to stop.”
Among her recent battles to rewrite victims’ futures:
- Although New Hampshire ended child marriage effective January 1, 2025, a bill was passed out of committee in mid-February (by a minority of state legislators) that allows an exception for 17-year-olds wishing to marry military members (with parental consent). The bill argues that this will allow these young spouses access to essential benefits such as health care and military housing. Fraidy testified against the bill, citing the high divorce rate among underage people who marry (70-80%) as well as the risk for spousal abuse.
- In an article in Ms. Magazine, Fraidy spoke out against Senator Dick Durbin’s proposed Child Marriage Prevention Act, which sets the minimum age for spousal visas at 16; this would enable predators to marry teens from overseas and bring them to the United States, stating that: “It would legalize the trafficking of minors to the U.S. under the guise of marriage. And it would financially reward states that refuse to ban child marriage. This federal bill is…intended to combat child marriage—but some provisions…would contradict, undermine and obstruct the national and global commitment to end child marriage by the end of the decade.”
Reflections on her Making a Difference Award
The recognition and cash prize she received as a Making a Difference Award honoree in 2019 also gave Fraidy and her organization a much-needed boost, financially and emotionally.
“Being honored was huge! At the time, we were a tiny team of three people, we had ended child marriage in only two states, and our annual budget was $500,000—so receiving 10% of our budget as a cash prize made an enormous difference to us,” she said.
Her team has grown over the past few years, with seven people on staff currently, with two new hires scheduled for this year plus the organization’s first staff attorney, as she aims for her goal of 10 employees.
Of her Making a Difference Award, Fraidy said that while the cash infusion was significant, the emotional aspect of the honor was equally meaningful.
“We are a tiny nonprofit with a big mission and felt so alone back then,” she explained. “Getting this prize was amazing because it showed that people value what we are doing and stand behind our mission. This provided us with tremendous visibility, and attracted new supporters, allies and connections. It was a wonderful affirmation of our work, a real stamp of approval.”
