Blog

2024 should have been the year that the child marriage age was raised to 18 in California, but it didn't happen. Davinder attended two chain-ins organized by Unchained At Last, the only organization in the USA that supports victims of child marriage and forced marriage. We were getting so close to having legislation pass to raise the marriage age with AB 2924. However Assemblymember Ash Kalra demanded amendments and did not give the legislation a hearing in the Judiciary Committee he chairs. Shame on him! Child marriage is a human rights abuse. Kids should not be getting married!

On March 19, 2024, Davinder was in Sacramento with other child marriage survivors at a chain-in organized by Unchained At Last, the only non-profit dedicated to ending child marriage and forced marriage, and as part of a press conference where Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris joined us to discuss "The End Child Marriage Act" which highlighted Assembly Bill 2924, the landmark legislation that should have ended child marriage in California. In 2021, an estimated 8,700 children were married in California. If not for loopholes in California marriage law, the incidents would be classified as sex crimes.

The Unchained At Last event on March 14, 2024 where Crime Junkie's Ashley Flowers talks with American survivors of forced and child marriage, at the parallel event to the United Nations Commission of the Status of Women was a huge success! There were over 300 attendees on Zoom and many in person at the United Nations Church Center at 777 United Nations Plaza.

As you may know, Davinder Kaur is speaking on a panel hosted by Unchained At Last and Crime Junkie's Ashley Flowers on March 14th, 2024 at 12:30 pm. This is a hybrid event where registrants can attend in person at the Church Center, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York or by registering via zoom at https://www.unchainedatlast.org/join-us-and-crime-junkies-ashley-flowers-at-the-un-or-on-zoom/Davinder chose to exhibit her book at this event and has a digital booth. You can see it here: https://ngocsw68forum.vfairs.com/en/hall#booth-267717 - you may have to log in or register. Here is another link: https://ngocsw68forum.vfairs.com/en/hall#custo

Davinder Kaur will be part of a panel of speakers at True Crime: Forced Marriage in the U.S. - An Unchained At Last Hybrid CSW68 Parallel Event which will be taking place at the Church Center for the United Nations at 777 United Nations Plaza, New York City on Thursday, March 14th, 2024 at 12:30 pm EST. As the United Nations launches the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women – the world’s largest annual gathering on women’s rights – Unchained At Last are launching a hybrid parallel event. It will be hosted by Unchained At Last and will feature Ashley Flowers of Crime Junkie. They will talk with American forced and child marriage survivors about how they escaped their nightmare and why they now have partnered with them to make sure the U.S. keeps its promise – under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals – to eliminate forced and child marriage by year 2030 and help achieve gender equality.

I joined a protest against child marriage on October 5th, 2023 at Burbank City Hall. It was held by Zonta District 9 and The Zonta USA Caucus (part of Zonta International). The Mayor of Burbank issued a Proclamation to Zonta International District 9 in support of ending child marriage. That was such a proud moment for all of us who were there. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that the Mayor supports an end to this human rights abuse. We all wore our orange "Zonta Says No" t-shirts. Here are some pictures.

I won another award for my book "Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It"! Hope Pyx Global announced me as a winner at their 2023 International Conference on Abuse held in Houston, TX on October 26, 2023. It is such an honor and privilege for my book to be awarded again and to know that this book is helping make a difference and bringing awareness.‍The 2023 International Conference on Abuse brought together distinguished speakers on important topics such as human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual abuse, child abuse and so much more. The second part of the conference which was in the afternoon was The International Book Awards which is when they announced my win in the category of "culture". I was actually named a winner and not just a finalist, even though both are equally impressive and a remarkable feat in themselves. I'm so proud of myself for telling my story. I've paid the price, but speaking up and breaking the silence, sharing our stories and spreading awareness and creating change is so much more important and crucial. We cannot be silenced. ‍

Davinder received a Certificate of Recognition on September 10, 2023 from the San Diego Youth Sikh Society (SDYSS). This was such an accomplishment for Davinder to receive this recognition, especially from her own community! Davinder is Sikh and her family stems from the Punjab, but since Davinder spoke up about forced marriage in her book "Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It" which touched on her own arranged marriage which was really a forced marriage, she knew it could anger many in the Sikh community and just even Indians in general. Instead, Davinder was touched to see that because of her writing the book and telling her truth, she was awarded this recognition for speaking up and being an inspiration. ‍The Certificate of Recognition is shown below and shows the following: Certificate of Recognition Presented to Davinder Kaur: "San Diego Youth Sikh Society is honored to recognize you as Woman of the Year 2023. The courage with which you faced your challenges and overcame them is inspiring for everyone in the community". ‍This just shows that we have to speak up and tell our truth. We can't be fearful of those who we might upset, as there will always be many who are grateful that the truth is shared and are further inspired by it.

Davinder Kaur's story of her forced marriage was published in DESIblitz, the UK's Award Winning British Asian web magazine. This is the link to the article on Davinder's story: https://www.desiblitz.com/content/davinder-kaur-engaged-at-14-forced-to-marry-raped-by-her-husband

"Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It' won an award! This memoir won in the category of Women's Issues in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The author Davinder Kaur traveled to Chicago on June 23rd, 2023 to get her award at the Newberry Library and this blog will link out to the video showing Davinder getting her medal: https://youtube.com/shorts/NEknldP4Qdw?feature=share

We protested child marriage at the State Capitol in Sacramento. Below is a summary of the event and included are pictures taken at the event. It was a fantastic day protesting and showing the world that we will not rest until the child marriage age is raised to 18 here in CA too! We must join the other nine states who have raised the marriage age to 18 with no exceptions. The UK raised the marriage age to 18 in February, 2023! If they can do it, so can we! Come on California, come on the rest of the USA! Only nine states have banned child marriage? We have to do so much better!

Trailer of Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It

Please sign Davinder's petition to end child marriage and forced marriage. Every signature helps and is very much appreciated.

I’m so thrilled to share that “Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime Of Tradition and the Will to Break It” has made it as one of the five finalists in the 2023 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the category of Women’s Issues – Non Fiction.

“Forced to Marry Him: A Lifetime of Tradition and the Will to Break It” by San Diego resident Davinder Kaur has been named by the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group as one of the best indie books of 2023.