Leading the fight against child marriage: a review of strategies and skills employed by The California Coalition to End Child Marriage

Abstract: Child marriage is a form of abuse that threatens the well-being of millions of children. Despite its global condemnation and recognition of its lifelong harmful consequences, child marriage remains legal in many countries, including the United States. This paper presents a case study of the leadership of The California Coalition to End Child Marriage (CCECM), a nonprofit group launched in 2019, highlighting strategies and leadership skills used to drive policy change. The CCECM advocates for setting the minimum marriage age in California at 18 without exceptions, employing three primary approaches: (I) coalition building; (II) public awareness campaigns; and (III) political advocacy. First, the CCECM has built a diverse alliance of stakeholders, including survivors, legal experts, public officials, and human rights organizations, which leverages their collective voice to legitimize and amplify the movement. Fostering collaboration from community leaders, survivors, experts to build momentum for policy change can be challenging work that requires diplomacy and other diverse skills, which are outlined in this review. Second, public awareness efforts have included hosting town halls, educational workshops, community events, school and church presentations, and survivor storytelling to highlight the harms of child marriage, resulting in nearly one million community engagements. Additionally, outreach efforts such as letter-writing campaigns have increased visibility and public pressure on lawmakers. Political advocacy strategies have involved direct engagement with elected officials, bipartisan relationship-building, survivor testimony in legislative hearings, and promoting city-level resolutions. These tactics helped position the issue as both a public health concern and a human rights violation. Providing evidence of the widespread international community support for ending child marriage and amplifying voices of survivors of child marriage have been powerful tools to counter opposition to laws to end child marriage. The CCECM’s work demonstrates that ending child marriage requires sustained public engagement, credible coalitions, and strategic leadership. This paper illustrates how these efforts may influence policy reform and foster protective environments for minors. While legislative change remains challenging due to opposition citing parental rights, cultural norms, and youth autonomy, coordinated, survivor-centered advocacy has the potential to reduce legal loopholes and protect children from early marriage.