Great news! Virginia has taken a huge step forward by passing legislation to ban child marriage without any exceptions. Virginia is the first Southern state and the 12th American state to raise the minimum legal age for marriage to 18.
Virginia once led the nation by restricting marriage to legal adults in 2016. However, through a complex legal procedure, 16- and 17-year-olds were still able to obtain approval to marry. In April 2024, HB 994 was signed into law, making it the twelfth state to ban child marriages.
Thanks to everyone who signs and shares our petition calling on U.S. lawmakers to support bills that would end child marriage without exception.
In the United States, there is no federal law that specifically governs child marriage, leaving the regulation of this issue to individual states. Consequently, the laws surrounding child marriage vary widely from one state to another. Twelve states down, 38 to go! We won’t stop until all states in the U.S. outlaw child marriage.