Professor Margaret Drew attended the invitation-only ceremonial signing of a bill that eliminates child marriage in Massachusetts.
/filters:quality(90)/prod01/production-cdn-pxl/media/umassdartmouth/school-of-law/news/Margaret-1.jpg?text=945+WebP)
UMass Law Professor Margaret Drew attended the invitation-only ceremonial signing of a bill that eliminates child marriage in Massachusetts. Professor Drew was part of the core group that initially drafted the legislation, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Kay Kahn and Senator Harriette Chandler. The bill, which enjoyed bipartisan support, took six years to pass. Massachusetts is now the 7th state in the US to ban marriage for those under the age of 18. Most residents of Massachusetts were not aware that children as young as 14 were permitted to marry in the state with parental and judicial consent. In most of those marriages, young girls were being married to older men, which resulted in high rates of sexual and other abuse.
Several classes of UMass Law Human Rights at Home Clinic students worked to promote the passage of the bill, with a special nod to Sarah Pierson, Class of 2022, who devoted hours to see the end of child marriage in the Commonwealth. Congratulations to Professor Drew and the Human Rights at Home Clinic!