Whatever happened to the U.S. campaign to ban child marriage?

Advocates and child marriage survivors in Boston gather to call for an end to child marriage. Currently more than two dozen U.S. states allow for marriage under the age of 18 under certain circumstances. A new bill up for debate in Congress calls for a national ban. Joseph Prezioso/AFP/via Getty Images hide caption

Our team of global health reporters has covered child marriage –- when one partner is under age 18. The United Nations calls it a "human rights violation," citing a litany of concerns for child brides: "early pregnancy and social isolation, interrupting her schooling, limiting her opportunities for career and vocational advancement and placing her at risk of domestic violence." Yet every year, the U.N. estimates that 12 million girls become child brides.

Child grooms, the U.N. further notes, may be forced into "an adult role for which they are unprepared," with pressure to drop out of school and support a family.

The U.N. has set the goal of ending child marriage by the year 2030.

This year there are new efforts to make child marriage illegal — a bill introduced by U.S. legislators in July and a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on September 4 establishes November 27 as the International Day to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage. As part of our "Whatever happened to …" series, we asked contributor Kamala Thiagarajan to examine the ongoing effort to end this practice.

Over the next week, we'll be looking back at some of our past global health and development stories to see "whatever happened to ..."

Nations around the world are seeking to meet the U.N. goal of ending child marriage by 2030.

Since 2021, countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, England, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic have been passing legislation to set the marriage age at 18, with no exceptions.