UPDATE: On October 22, 2019, the Pennsylvania Senate voted unanimously to pass SB 81. You may recall that the Pennsylvania House already unanimously passed the house version of the bill, HB 360, earlier this year, which means PA is the first U.S. state where every single legislator supports ending child marriage. Now one of the bills, either SB 81 or HB 360, must cross to the other chamber and pass again before the governor can sign the bill. If you live in PA, take action now to make Pennsylvania the third U.S. state to eliminate all marriage before age 18.
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Worldwide, more than 650 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday. Some of them are right here in the United States.
UNICEF calls child marriage a harmful practice and a violation of child rights, and believes that marriage under age 18 should be prohibited in all circumstances. The risks are just as real for child marriages in the U.S. as they are in developing countries.
Call on your State Representative and State Senator in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to end child marriage with zero exceptions by cosponsoring HB 360/SB 81.