2025
“No way out”: New Prosecution Statement Confronts Male Victims’ Silent Struggle, including Forced Marriage,” Crown Prosecution Service, UK (December 4, 2025). The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has launched an updated Male Victims Statement, co‑produced with survivors, male support organizations, and victim advocates, to improve how criminal cases involving male victims of abuse, including forced marriage, honor‑based abuse, domestic abuse, and rape, are understood and prosecuted. The statement aims to reduce barriers faced by men and boys in reporting forced marriage and challenge stereotypes surrounding male victims. Read more.
“Strangled, Beaten and Enslaved by my In-Laws,” BBC News (December 3, 2025). A woman, referred to as Sara, describes being coerced into a forced marriage in Pakistan and later brought to the United Kingdom, where she says she was isolated, controlled, and abused by her husband and in-laws. Charities and experts warn that prosecution figures underestimate the true scale of forced marriage and are calling for better data and stronger enforcement to protect victims. Read more.
“Grenada Raises Minimum Legal Marriage Age to 18,” Girls Not Brides (November 27, 2025). The Grenadian Parliament passed the Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which removes all parental-consent provisions and special licenses that previously allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to marry, raising the minimum legal age for marriage to 18 without exceptions to better protect children from forced and underage marriages. Read more.
“Brian McKnight Says His First Marriage Was Forced by Pressure,” BallerAlert (November 22, 2025). Brian McKnight described his first marriage as driven by pressure rather than love, saying he felt compelled to wed his then‑girlfriend after she became pregnant due to religious and family expectations. He explained the relationship lacked a true emotional foundation, leading to a long, conflicted union. Read more.
“Lawmakers Intro a Bill to Ban Child Marriage. ‘This is not about Teenagers Falling in Love,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (November 5, 2025). A group of Wisconsin legislators have introduced legislation to raise the state’s minimum marriage age from 16 to 18, banning child marriage. The bill would also eliminate the current spousal defense to sexual assault of a minor, and permit already-married minors to legally pursue and annulment, divorce, or legal separation. Read more.
“More than 100 Children Married During Wait to Raise Minimum Age to 18,” BBC (November 3, 2025). 116 children have married in Northern Ireland since 2022, when the government initiated an effort to ban marriage under age 18. Current law allows children age 16 and 17 to marry with parental consent in the country, leaving it out of step with England, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland. Scotland also allows marriage at ages 16 and 17, but in July confirmed that the government would consult on raising the minimum age there to 18. Read more.
“Why Do We Allow Child Marriage in America?” The New York Times (November 1, 2027). Brigitte was 11 when her mother found a prospective husband, 14 when she was married in a religious ceremony, and 15 when she was taken to the courthouse to make that marriage legally binding. Now Brigitte and survivors across the country are leading a movement to ban child marriage in the United States. Read more.
“Legislators Introduce Bill to End Child Marriage” Beloit Daily News (October 28, 2025). Rock County lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Spreitzer and Reps. Ann Roe, Clinton Anderson, and Brienne Brown, have proposed legislation to prohibit all marriages involving minors in Wisconsin. The bill targets exploitative cases, noting that many underage marriages involve adult men and carry high domestic‑violence risks. Read more.
“Courtney Stodden Slams Child Marriage as ‘America’s Dirty Little Secret,’” Fox News (October 12, 2025). Courtney Stodden revealed that she became the “breadwinner” in her marriage at 16 and called out U.S. legal loopholes that enable child marriage, saying they allow, in her view, “pedophiles to marry children.” Read more.
“Somalia: Aisha’s Journey from Forced Marriage to Safety,” Norwegian Refugee Council (October 6, 2025). Aisha was forced into marriage but later escaped and found refuge with the help of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which supported her with housing, legal aid, and secure land tenure to rebuild her life. Read more.
“Burkina Faso Raises the Legal Age for Marriage to 18 Years Old,” Girls Not Brides (October 2, 2025). Burkina Faso’s new Personal and Family Code raises the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 for both girls and boys, replacing lower age thresholds that allowed girls to marry as young as 15 with court approval. It remains unclear if a judge can still grant exceptions for marriage at ages 16 or 17 in some cases. Read more.
“Couple ‘Beat, Drugged Daughter’ to Force Her into Marriage,” ANSA (October 1, 2025). Authorities in Rimini, Italy arrested a Bangladeshi couple accused of beating and drugging their daughter, just over 18, to coerce her into an arranged marriage in Bangladesh. The parents held her captive, seized her documents, and gave her pregnancy‑promoting drugs and tranquilizers as part of the forced‑marriage plan. Read more.
“Mum Allegedly Beat Daughter for not Marrying Cousin,” The Canberra Times (September 24, 2025). Enam Hmeed and her husband, Mohamed Al-Fadhli, were charged after allegedly assaulting and chaining their 21-year-old daughter in Western NSW, Australia for refusing to marry her cousin and for having a boyfriend whose proposal they rejected. Read more.
“I Have No Choice; the Poison is Near: The State of Forced Marriage in Australia,” Honi Soit (September 24, 2025). Forced marriage remains a pernicious form of gender-based harm around the world, including in Australia where it was criminalized in 2013. This examination of the issue in Australia includes discussion of “the paradox of criminalization,” in which the law rightly condemns forced marriage but can also deter people from seeking support if they fear loved ones will end up in prison. Read more.
“Bolivia Approves Bill to Prohibit Child Marriage without Exceptions,” Equality Now (September 17, 2025). Bolivia is the latest Latin American country to ban child marriage, setting a minimum marriage age of 18 without exceptions. The bill’s passage follows years of work by civil society organizations in Bolivia, working closely with Senator Virginia Velasco who authored the bill. The law now awaits presidential promulgation to take effect. Read more.
“Kazakhstan Bans Bride Kidnaps, Forced Marriages,” Eyewitness News (September 16, 2025). A new law has made forcing someone to marry punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while also outlawing bride kidnappings. Previous law did not explicitly prohibit forced marriage, and removed criminal liability if in cases where a kidnapper voluntarily released their victim. There is no official data on the prevalence of forced marriage in Kazakhstan, but police received 214 complaints over the past three years. Read more.
“We Are Talking About Broken Lives: Advocates Fight for Stricter Child Marriage Law in KY,” Louisville Courier Journal (September 4, 2025). Kentucky passed new protections against child marriage back in 2018, after years of hard work from survivor-advocate Donna Simmons. But despite these safeguards, data shows girls across Kentucky have been issued marriage licenses in violation of the law. Simmons is now back at the legislature, asking for accountability and for a complete ban on marriage under age 18. Read more.
“Imam Charged After Children Married in Mosque,” BBC (September 3, 2025). An imam in Northamptonshire has been charged under forced marriage legislation after two children were allegedly allowed to marry each other in a mosque. 2023 legislation made it illegal to arrange the marriage of anyone under age 18, regardless of whether force or coercion is involved. Read more.
“Slough: Mum Accused of Preparing Daughter for Forced Marriage,” Slough Observer (September 2, 2025). A mother in Slough is in court after authorities discovered she was planning to take her daughter to Bulgaria for a forced marriage. Suspicions were raised after her daughter made statements at school about plans to get her married, and then when the girl was taken to a hospital for a virginity test. The Court imposed a forced marriage protection order, which will remain in place until the next hearing. Read more.
“Honor-Based Abuse Crackdown in Raft of New Measures,” Gov.UK (August 26, 2025). The UK government is enacting a raft of new measures in an effort to curb “honor-based abuse,” which includes forced marriage. New statutory guidance and a legal definition of this type of abuse aim to help law enforcement and social workers to better support survivors, and clarify that all frontline staff must take these crimes seriously. Read more.
“Parliament Votes to Ban Child Marriage,” Newsbook Malta (July 23, 2025). Malta’s parliament passed sweeping legislation that addressed forced marriage in multiple ways. The bill was backed unanimously by Parliament and will become law as soon as the President gives her assent. It bans child marriage by banning marriage under age 18, and alters the criminal code on forced marriage to clarify that the provisions include “any religious or civil ceremony of marriage, whether or not legally binding.” Read more.
Clara Bates, “Missouri Governor Signs Bill Banning State from Seizing Foster Kids’ Benefits. The Legislation Also Bans Child Marriage and Void Non-Disclosure Agreements in Child Sex Abuse Cases,” Missouri Independent (July 9, 2025). Missouri Governor Kehoe signed a bill into law that takes on multiple issues related to vulnerable children in the state, including a ban on marriage under age 18. Previous Missouri law had a minimum marriage age of 16, and allowed anyone under age 21 to marry an older minor if the minor’s parent consented. The bill garnered broad bipartisan support this year, culminating multiple years of effort by legislators, survivors, and advocates. Read more.
Chris McCall, “Child Marriages in Scotland Could be Banned as SNP Government to Look at Raising Age of Consent,” Daily Record (July 8, 2025). Scotland’s SNP Government has confirmed that it will formally consider raising the country’s minimum marriage age from 16 to 18, in response to calls from survivors and advocates to ban child marriage. The issue is complicated by Scotland’s age of majority laws, which grant many of the rights of adulthood at age 16 rather than waiting until 18 as is done in England and Wales, where the age of marriage was raised to 18 in 2023. Read more.
“Child Marriage Survivor Urges Canada to Outlaw Child Marriage,” Daily Kos (July 8, 2025). Samra was just 16 when her parents forced her to marry a stranger, 11 years her senior. She endured years of abuse, but found the strength and support she needed to leave. Today Samra has three degrees, a chosen family, and a career as a physician and advocate calling on Canada to ban underage marriage. Read more.
Karina Gaberkorn, Nargiz Khamrabaeva, Roman Kim, and Azattyq Asia, “Forced into Underage Marriages, Kyrgzy and Tajik Girls See Dreams Derailed,” Radio Free Europe (July 18, 2025). Nigora was just 17 when her father decided she should marry a distant relative. Once married, she had to stop attending school so she could do chores for her new husband and his family. Countless stories like Nigora’s play out across Tajikistan and elsewhere in Central Asia, where girls are frequently forced to marry as children. Read more.
“Kazakhstan Criminalizes Forced Marriage in Effort to Combat Modern Slavery,” Walk Free Foundation (June 25, 2025). Kazakhstan’s parliament, the Majilis, has passed amendments to the country’s Criminal Code that officially criminalize forced marriage. The new law introduces penalties including fines, correctional labor, restriction of freedom, and imprisonment for up to 2 years for a new crime designated as “Coercion to Enter into Marriage.” Penalties increase if the crime involves violence against a minor, is committed by two or more people, or includes the abuse of an official position. Read more.
Angelique Chrisafis, “Disneyland Paris Calls in Police Over Alleged Fake Wedding with Child ‘Bride,’” The Guardian (June 22, 2025). French police questioned two people after Disneyland Paris was hired for an alleged fake marriage ceremony involving a girl aged about nine. The theme park had bene hired for what was presumed to be a genuine private wedding; staff then called the authorities when they saw that the “bride” was a young child. All parties involved, including the guests and young bride, had allegedly been paid to attend the event. Read more.
“Ending Child Marriage: A Survivor’s Mission for Change with Donna Simmons,” KMET: Moments with Marianne (June 8, 2025). Donna Simmons is a wife, mother, author, and dedicated advocate for breaking cycles of generational trauma and supporting mental health recovery. Appointed by the Governor to the Kentucky Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, she collaborates with leaders across the state to reduce juvenile system involvement and strengthen protective factors for at-risk youth. She is also a survivor of child marriage, whose personal journey fuels her mission. She discusses her memoir: Ashes to Flame. Listen here.
Melissa Fyfe, “‘Excuse me. I’ve Killed my Wife’: The Ongoing Menace of Forced Marriage in Australia,” The Sydney Morning Herald (May 31, 2025). Women threatened with forced marriage in Australia face a stark choice: stay put and powerless, or pursue a risky road to freedom. Several survivors share their stories of escaping forced marriage in Australia, and speak about the advocates who helped them as they sought safety. Read more.
“Lackawanna Man Sentenced for Role in Kidnapping Plot to Force Sister’s Marriage,” Finger Lakes 1 (May 15, 2025). A New York man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a family’s plan to kidnap his sister and force her into an unwanted marriage in Yemen. He and his father abducted his sister, transported her via Egypt into Yemen, and held her against her will for over a year as they attempted to force her to marry. His father awaits sentencing for his own involvement in the case. Read more.
Evy Lewis, “Missouri Legislature Votes to Ban Child Marriage Raising Age to 18,” St. Louis Public Radio (April 29, 20225). Missouri’s Senate voted to ban all child marriage, sending legislation to the governor’s desk for approval for the first time. Current law allows children age 16 or 17 to marry in certain circumstances. The legislation banning all marriage under age 18 won broad, bipartisan support in both chambers. Read more.
Jess Huff, “Bill to Ban Child Marriages in Texas Advances in the House,” The Texas Tribune (May 13, 2025). The Texas House of Representatives advances legislation to ban all child marriages in the state, a new high water mark for the years-long effort to prohibit marriage under age 18. House Bill 168 won bipartisan support in a preliminary 83-51 vote. Read more.
Christina Jedra, “Adults Can Still Marry at 15 after Death of Proposed Ban in Hawai’i,” Honolulu Civil Beat (May 6, 2025). Current law allows children as young as 15 to marry in Hawai’i, an abuse that would have been banned by a bill prohibiting marriage under age 18. The bill’s main opponent was Senator Joy San Buenaventura, who chairs the Senate’s Health and Human Services committee and declined to give the bill a hearing. Read more.
Billy Kobin, “Janet Mills Lets Maine Child Marriage Ban Become Law without her Signature,” Bangor Daily News (May 6, 2025). Maine has banned child marriage, as Governor Janet Mills allowed a bill raising the state’s minimum marriage age to 18 to become law without her signature. This builds on previous efforts in which Maine first set a minimum age of 16, then raised it to 17 before finally banning child marriage entirely this year. Read more.
“What Can We Do to End Child Marriages in the US?” Between Friends Podcast (May 2025). Casey Swegman of Tahirih Justice Center joins Nandini Ray to discuss child marriage in the United States on a Policy Matters episode of Maitri’s Between Friends podcast. They discuss the prevalence of child marriage in the U.S., why age matters, and what can be done to prevent children facing the harms of a forced underage marriage. Listen here.
“Melbourne Court Rejects Appeal Bid for Mum who Forced Daughter to Marry Killer,” news.com.au (March 21, 2025). An Australian mother who forced her 16-year-old daughter to marry a man who later became a convicted killer has had her appeal rejected by a Melbourne court. She was previously sentenced to two years in jail after being found guilty of arranging the illegal marriage. The case marked Australia’s first prosecution under forced marriage laws. Judges upheld the sentence, emphasizing the mother’s breach of trust and the serious harm caused. Read more.
“Bill to Eliminate Child Marriage in Missouri Nears Governor’s Desk,” KY3 (March 10, 2025). Missouri’s bill to ban child marriage, sponsored by Senator Tracy McCreery, is nearing the governor’s desk. It prohibits marriage under 18 with no exceptions. The Senate passed it with strong support, except for one dissenting vote. Advocates say it will protect minors from exploitation, aligning Missouri with other states banning child marriage. Read more.
“Oregon Senate Passes Bill to Raise Minimum Marriage Age to 18,” KPIC4 (March 10, 2025). The Oregon Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 548, raising the state’s minimum marriage age to 18 without exceptions. Previously, 17-year-olds could marry with parental consent. Advocates argue this change is crucial to protect minors from exploitation and align Oregon with other states enacting similar legislation. The bill now proceeds to the Oregon House for consideration. Read more.
“I was Raised in a Cult & Forced to ‘Marry’ a Man, 67, at the Age of Three – I Escaped but so Many are Still in Danger,” The Sun (March 3, 2025). Serena Kelley was born into the Children of God, a cult led by David Berg. At just three years old, she was forced into a child “marriage” with the 67-year-old cult leader, orchestrated by her mother. She endured severe abuse while growing up in the cult’s communes worldwide. At 18, she escaped and has since rebuilt her life, working in IT, studying at university, and living in Mexico City. Now a trauma recovery coach, she raises awareness about child trafficking and cult abuse, emphasizing the importance of recognizing manipulation tactics. Read more.
“One Year After Total Child Marriage Ban, New Hampshire Considers New Exceptions,” The Fulcrum (February 25, 2025). A proposed amendment to New Hampshire’s child marriage law, which banned marriages under age 18 without exceptions last year, would create an exception for 17-year-olds to marry active-duty service members. Proponents argue that this would allow minors to access military benefits, but critics point out that such exceptions could perpetuate child exploitation and harm. Read more.
“Minimum Age for Marriage Increasing,” The Portugal News (February 23, 2025). Portugal’s Parliament has approved a law to raise the legal minimum marriage age to 18, aiming to provide stronger protection for children and young people. The new legislation bans child, early, and forced marriages, categorizing them as high-risk situations under child protection laws. Previously, minors could marry at 16 with parental consent. Read more.
“South Dakota Senate Rejects Bill to Raise Minimum Marriage Age, Advocates Concerned for Youth Safety,” mykxlg.com (February 20, 2025). The South Dakota Senate voted 19-16 against Senate Bill 156, which would have raised the minimum marriage age to 18, closing an exception that currently allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent. Advocates, including Senator Sydney Davis, expressed concern that the current law leaves minors vulnerable to exploitation, citing over 800 child marriages in the state since 2000. Supporters vowed to continue advocating for protections against child marriage in future efforts. Read more.
“Utah Legislature Approves Bill Forbidding Minors from Marrying Someone Four Years Older,” Utah News Dispatch (February 20, 2025). The Utah Legislature passed SB76, a bill that decreases the age gap allowed between partners to a marriage from 7 to 4 years, if either partner is a minor. The bill also creates a new 72-hour waiting period between the granting of permission for a minor to marry and the issuance of a marriage license. Despite some debate, the bill received broad support and now awaits Governor Spencer Cox’s signature to become law. Read more.
“Kuwait Raises Minimum Marriage Age to 18,” MSN (February 15, 2025). Kuwait has raised the minimum marriage age to 18, citing high divorce rates among minors and aligning with international child protection standards. The reform aims to safeguard children, reduce divorces, and strengthen family stability. Read more.
“91 Forced Marriage Reports Across Australia Prompt Call for Schools to Take Action,” SBS News (January 31, 2025). In the 2022-23 financial year, the Australian Federal Police received 91 reports of forced marriage. The article emphasizes the need for educational institutions to play a proactive role in identifying and preventing forced marriages, given their unique position to observe early warning signs among students. Read more.
