LANSING, Mich. (MIRS News) – Parents or guardians could no longer marry off their children before the minor reaches the age of 18 under legislation promoted today by 17 former child brides who showed up to the Capitol in wedding dresses.

Some of the women wore plastic handcuffs around their wrists and black tape over their mouths to signify how young girls are shackled, silenced and prone to abuse when they are married before they reach an age at which they are realistically able to fend for themselves.

MORE NEWS: Guaranteed Income Programs Pop Up Nationwide With Help From Federal Pandemic Relief Money

Arlene Nyhof said she married at age 16 because “I thought I was in love.” From the day she was married, however, she was abused sexually, emotionally and spiritually. She had no ability, at age 16, to leave home for a domestic violence shelter.

“I tried to leave many times, but I was unable to because I had no resources,” she said. “Because of my age, I couldn’t retain a lawyer. I couldn’t even get a hotel room. I had no access to funds. I could not open a banking account. I basically could not do anything.

“Then, I became pregnant with my first child and after that, I felt completely trapped.”

Following Nyhof to the microphone was Nina Van Harn, Nyhof’s adult daughter, who said she was forced into a marriage at age 19. At age 31, her father and husband told her 11-year-old daughter that she didn’t have to worry, “they will pick our spouses for us, just like they did for you.”

“And that is when I knew I had to break the cycle,” Van Harn said.

The bills — HB 4293, HB 4294, HB 4295, HB 4296, HB 4297, HB 4298, HB 4299, HB 4300, HB 4301, HB 4302, SB 209, SB 210, SB 211, SB 212, SB 213, SB 214, SB 215, SB 216, SB 217 and SB 246

MORE NEWS: U.S. Representative-Elect Tom Barrett Secures Office Once Occupied by His Great-Grandfather

— eliminate references in the law that allow a parent to marry off a child under the age of 18.

The group Unchained At Last, led by Fraidy REISS, led today’s demonstration. They are working with Sen. Sarah ANTHONY (D-Lansing) in the Senate and Sen. Kara HOPE (D-Lansing) in the House to pass these bills.

Reiss said that between 2002 and 2021, 5,426 minors were married in Michigan. Of those, 95% were married off to adult men who were, on average, 4.3 years older than them, according to a 2021 study by Unchained. The youngest bride was 14.

Speakers at Thursday’s event projected more are coming unless the law is changed to stop it. In Michigan, it only takes the signature of one parent to approve an underage marriage.

“If their father wanted to get out of child support or wanted to end the custody thing, he just has to marry them off and there’s nothing I can do,” Van Harn said. “Without these bills, there’s no legal protection to help me protect them.”