Rhode Island Archives - American Atheists https://www.atheists.org/tag/rhode-island/ Protecting the absolute separation of religion from government. Thu, 20 May 2021 21:12:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 125490277 End Child Marriage in Rhode Island! https://www.atheists.org/2021/05/end-child-marriage-rhode-island/ Mon, 17 May 2021 21:12:09 +0000 https://www.atheists.org/?p=29063 On May 19th, the Rhode Island House of Representatives will be considering H5387, a life-saving bill that would prevent children from being forced into marriage by prohibiting marriage of individuals under the age of 18. This legislation is important because, too often, marriages occur in religious sects where very young girls are forced to marry men much older than them. Help protect children! Ask your representative to support this essential bill! Child marriage remains a widespread problem in the United States. Between 2000 and 2015, more than 207,500 children as young as age 12 have been forced to marry. Current Rhode Island law includes a loophole allowing 16 years olds to marry with judicial approval. The U.S. State Department has called marriage before age 18 a “human rights abuse.” Take action today! This is the last vote needed to pass this important bill into law. Tell your state representative to protect young people in Rhode Island from the devastating practice of child marriage!

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