According to Reiss, in the first week of her marriage, her then-husband began to abuse her, repeatedly threatening to kill her and engaging in other forms of violence.
[3] However, she says her rabbi sent an attorney, also a member of the Haredi community, to take Reiss to family court, to tell the judge that she wished to drop the order.
Reiss developed a five-year escape plan,[6] and was eventually able to go to college, get a job, support her family, and divorce her husband.
[9] In 2011, Reiss founded the non-profit organization Unchained At Last, to support people who wish to leave arranged and forced marriages.
[3][1][6][7] Reiss has also participated in a planning session held by the White House Council on Women and Girls that would target development of a national policy on forced and child marriages.
[1] Reiss also collaborated with New Jersey senator Loretta Weinberg on a draft of a law that would allow women to access crime victimization records free of charge.
Washington, Virginia and New Hampshire followed in 2024, bringing to 13 the total number of states that have ended child marriage.
[17] Reiss has written several op-eds for outlets like The Washington Post, The Star-Ledger, CNN, The Hill, and Refinery29 (co-authored by Chelsea Clinton).