Dear John

Today is the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl Child. 10 years of a movement dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of girls.

Today, we ask you to consider joining us by making a gift in support of our fight to protect all girls and women from discriminatory laws. Our work continues to put pressure on the decision-making bodies locally and globally to ensure that girls and young women are empowered, and not endangered.

When you look at the road ahead, it can be hard to realize how far we’ve come. This International Day of the Girl Child we’re taking a moment to reflect on the achievements of the global movement of feminists we’re proud to be a part of.

Recently, our Program Officer Jean-Paul Murunga caught up with Fraidy Reiss, Founder of Unchained At Last, an organization we’re proud to partner with on ending child marriage in the United States. 

“I noted in the early years of my career that a number of governments in Africa were interpreting marriage as a form of protection, where they felt that girls who could not access education or girls who were not in formal education were seen as [being in a] protective environment [when married].” - Jean-Paul Murunga, Program Officer, Equality Now

“We started our movement in 2015. At the time, child marriage was legal in all 50 U.S states. No one knew how often it was happening in the United States…. We at Unchained At last and our allies including Equality Now have helped to pass legislation in 7 out of 50 U.S states to ban all marriage before age 18.” - Fraidy Reiss, Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last

Despite progress, there’s a long road ahead

There has been incredible progress over the last 10 years, most recently in Cuba in September - a successful referendum was held on progressive amendments to the Family Code, including eliminating exceptions to the minimum age of marriage of 18. 

But still, a quarter of the world, 24% of countries, allow girls to be legally married off at a younger age than boys with parental consent, as of January 2019, according to WORLD Policy Analysis Center.

Today we’ve released the first in a series of briefs detailing the extent of discrimination in marital status laws, from child marriage to divorce to polygamy to wife obedience. From Afghanistan and Tanzania to India and the United States, laws globally are ripe for reform. Explore the impact of these laws on the lives of women and girls today. 

It’s time to end discrimination in marital status laws everywhere 

Let’s come together to shine a spotlight on the issues and gaps in the law that represent the greatest threats to the girls and women we love most. 

Together, let’s make the International Day of the Girl Child a massive success. Your gift has the power to change the lives of girls around the world. Thank you for your continued loyalty to Equality Now. 

In solidarity,
 

Antonia Kirkland and Divya Srinivasan
Global Leads, Achieve Legal Equality and End Harmful Practices, Equality Now 

P.S. Your generosity means the world to us! When you give in the month of October in support of International Day of the Girl Child, you are committing to creating a world where no girl is married off.