Ending Child Marriage in New York

 This guest post is from Regent Law rising 3L and Family Law student Katie Glover:

On July 32, 2021, New York became the sixth state in the United States to end child marriage. Child marriage is when someone under the age of 18 becomes legally married to an adult. The age requirement to be married in New York is now 18 years old or older.

The bill that banned child marriage in New York is called “Naila’s Law.” It is named after Naila Amin, now 31, who was a child bride shipped to Pakistan. Naila grew up in Baldwin, New York. However, she was placed in foster care as a young teenager once her parents found out she had a boyfriend. Naila jumped from home to home until she ran back to her parent’s house. Upon arrival, at the age of 15, she was sent to Pakistan to marry her cousin, the man she was promised to.

Naila was promised to her cousin at the age of 8. She was never asked if she wanted to marry this man. In fact, Naila was unaware she was even to marry this man until she realized that all of her recent shopping trips with her family was for her wedding attire.

She stayed in Pakistan for five months, desperate to leave, while her adult husband beat her, raped her, confined her to the house, and took her phone and passport away. Eventually, Naila was able to get in contact with a social worker from the foster care system she was once a part of. With the help of the social worker and the U.S. State Department, Naila was able to escape. Her mother was arrested for kidnapping.

Once Naila returned to the United States she started the Naila Amin Foundation and has been on a mission to spread awareness about child marriage. Through Naila’s persistence in contacting New York legislators, calling the Governor’s office every day, and threatening to protest, Naila was successful in ending child marriage in New York.