Child Marriage Still Isn’t Illegal in America
Content Warning: This article contains mentions of rape, suicide, and self harm.
In a 2021 study by Unchained At Last, the only non-profit in America dedicated to helping women leave arranged and forced marriages, it was revealed that around 300,000 minors, 86 percent of whom were girls, were legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2018. Looking at Unchained At Last’s data, 20 percent of the marriages between 2000 and 2018 “involved a child at an age or a marriage with a spousal age difference that would have otherwise been considered a sex crime” by state law. How is child marriage, something most people would agree is terrible and the United Nations has stated to be a human rights abuse, still legal in 80 percent of the United States?
Elizabeth Clement, a U.S. women’s historian at the University of Utah, finds support for child marriage “tends to be rooted in conservative or religious beliefs around premarital sexuality and pregnancy.” In America, the minimum marriage age is decided on a state-by-state basis. According to an article from The 19th, the states with the most child marriages per capita are Nevada, Idaho, Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Utah, Alabama, West Virginia, and Mississippi, states that fit the bill of being religiously conservative. “Those arguing in favor of permitting children to marry often argue that establishing any restrictions will interfere with parental rights or religious liberty.” Clement talks about how “it even happens sometimes that very young girls are married to men who have statutorily raped them because the sex is seen as more problematic than the rape itself.” Lawmakers have differing beliefs: some think that the marriage age should align with the age at which children become physically capable of having their children, some want to eliminate all limits, some fear government overreach, some think that parents should have the right to choose who their children marry and when, and some excuse defending child marriage by stating that children could always travel out of state to get married. Even progressive organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood have lobbied to eliminate bills that would have ended child marriage, citing that “imposing an age requirement could set the stage for a slippery slope when it comes to constitutional rights or reproductive choices”, according to Newsweek. Regardless of whether they’re Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, policymakers refuse to raise the minimum age to 18 across the United States.
Fraidy Reiss, the founder of Unchained At Last, explained in an article from The 19th, that the reason the minimum age should be 18 at the very youngest is because 18-year-olds have rights to adulthood, including most notably, the right to divorce. “There is often little that can be done to legally remove minors from their spouses. The youngest bride Reiss has seen was 10 years old. But helping somebody under the age of 18 run away from home or escape from an abusive situation would likely result in criminal charges for the advocates and anyone who attempted to help.” When the minimum age is below 18, there’s practically no legal way for the child to leave the marriage, and many often end up turning to suicide and self-harm since they see death as the only way out. Raising the age requirement to 18 across the United States protects children from being exploited regardless of what state they’re located in by preventing minors by definition and giving them the power to divorce their spouse after they get married. Even if they’re 18 and get married against their will, they can escape the situation and get help without their advocates gaining criminal charges.
You can help children in child marriages by donating to Unchained At Last and voting thoughtfully for politicians and policies that support ending child marriage across the entirety of the United States.
