On July 16, 2026, Congress introduced the Child Marriage Prevention Act (H.R. 9758, S. 5060). The bill would create a national commission to study the issue, order a federal report on its harms, reward states raising the marriage age with Violence Against Women Act funds, ban child marriage on federal property like military bases, direct the Attorney General to draft a model law, and require that both parties to a marriage-based visa petition be at least 18. Notice that the bill cannot outlaw child marriage nationwide because marriage law is under state control. The federal government can exert pressure, but ending the practice will happen gradually, state by state.
CHILD USA
What Is Polyvictimization, and Why Does It Matter?
By Dr. Suruchi Sood Think about a child who is having a hard time. We often ask one question: “What happened to them?” And we look for a single answer. Maybe they were bullied. Maybe they saw violence at home. But for many children, the real answer is not one thing....
From the Appellate Court of Maryland ACM-REG-2456-2024
JOHN DOE 1, et al. v. WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT, LLC, et al. Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-3487-JKB
SOL TRACKER UPDATE · JUNE 11, 2026
Washington’s SB 5105 updates the state’s child protection laws to cover AI-generated and digitally fabricated sexual images of minors, even when no real child exists, and strengthens penalties accordingly. Effective June 11, 2026, it also extends the statute of limitations for these crimes to ten years, closing critical gaps in the digital age.
SOL TRACKER UPDATE · MAY 29, 2026
SOL TRACKER UPDATE · MAY 29, 2026 Two updates from the 2026 SOL Tracker. CHILD USA tracks statute of limitations reform in all 50 states, D.C., U.S. territories, and federal jurisdictions. Two developments this month — a new enactment in Iowa, and a confirmed...
When the Body Remembers: The Physical Health Toll of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Over the past 30 years, research has linked childhood sexual abuse to many adult health problems, with similar findings across countries and study types.
No. 27 EAP 2025 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT
Twice Wounded Part 3: What Can Actually Be Done: Three Things the System Could Change Right Now
This essay explores how interviews are conducted, how courtrooms treat child witnesses, and how legal professionals learn about trauma. This blog takes each of those in turn, what the research says works, where it has been tried, and what still stands in the way.
The Myth of the Vote: Examining Creditor Protections for Survivors in Child Sex Abuse Bankruptcies
When I first started law school in 2023, taking a bankruptcy course was at the top of my list. But it wasn’t because I wanted to be a bankruptcy lawyer; instead, knowing that I wanted to represent survivors, many mentors said that they did not know the first thing about bankruptcy, but that if they could do law school over again, they would have taken that doctrinal class. The trend was clear: so many defendants were trying to file for bankruptcy to escape accountability.