Child marriage in the USA

They can't be deployed to the frontline until they are 18 though Kursk, and in reality by the time they have got through the recruitment process they are usually at least 17. It is also voluntary, You can't compare this with child marriage.

It’s not really freedom is it?! It’s a very backwards idea of freedom which enables young people to be manipulated without protection.

Lakes. Being fiercely individual and independent is great but not at the expense of vulnerable impressionable children. A line needs to be drawn

Am I reading this correctly? Some Americans oppose legislation against child marriage (aka paedophilia) in the name of freedom?

I don't think much of your freedom.

I would like to see how many marriages happen at the minimum age in each state ( just because it’s law doesn’t mean it has to happen)

I don't have numbers state by state but (according to wikki) about 1000 children a year are given permission to marry.

Gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, I'm sure there's a legal precedent for banning child marriage in all states also.

Possibly. But there are different legal concepts in the same sex marriage cases, which were decided under concepts similar to the ones underpinning civil rights cases.

The USA is kinda like a more intigrated Europe. Each state has its own laws and identity.

I would like to see how many marriages happen at the minimum age in each state ( just because it’s law doesn’t mean it has to happen)

The UK allows kids to join the army at 16. So the UK isn’t always better.

The problem is that marriage is one of the powers generally reserved to the states under the Constitution, similar (but not identical) to devolution in the UK. Such a law might be unconstitutional.

If the child rights lobby used the same tactics as the gay rights lobby did, the Supreme Court could settle this. Gay marriage is legal in all 50 states, I'm sure there's a legal precedent for banning child marriage in all states also.

How can it unconstitutional if it's upholding the human rights of children? I could commit murder my ex husband and claim that's in my rights to do so if not, pursuit of happiness and all that. These are CHILDREN.

To me that's what happens in small communities where women are denied a voice.

When women are respected children tend to get better treatment too.

The women in these communities will have been brainwashed denied education and probably abused themselves. It's the men leading this.

Young, free, bright women from any class group in the uk will not be able to understand just how badly treated and subservient women in extreme religious communities are.

Making it a federal law that you cannot marry below the age of consent in each state would leave states able to set their own ages and would hardly erode 'freedom'.

The problem is that marriage is one of the powers generally reserved to the states under the Constitution, similar (but not identical) to devolution in the UK. Such a law might be unconstitutional.

Girl becomes pregnant through abuse but if the man marries her he won't go to prison.

Luckily in the case I posted above, the man DID go to prison as did the girl's father, and the marriage was annulled. Apparently people mistakenly believe that marriage will absolve the crime of rape/statutory rape.

The thing I can't get past is the families of these children who provide the required consent. That to me is the true rotten core of child marriage. There will always be pedophiles and rapists - but to sign a paper allowing a rapist to marry your child is a level of depravity I simply cannot understand.

Changing the marriage laws to 16 is hardly Orwellian. It's just fucking common sense.

Exactly. And in some states there is no minimum age at all. How is this defensible?

Also, do these men have sex with these young girls?

Yes, and often that is why they are marrying them. Girl becomes pregnant through abuse but if the man marries her he won't go to prison.

Eroding the freedom of individual states makes me nervous

Making it a federal law that you cannot marry below the age of consent in each state would leave states able to set their own ages and would hardly erode 'freedom'.

The USA is a very different country to the UK.

How does a child in one differ from the other in her capacity and ability to consent? Both will be just as vulnerable to pressure from family.

The point is solely about free will and ability to make a decision at that age without being under pressure.

If you are not able to support yourself or have legally independent status in society to make other decisions about where your live and how you make decisions, you lack the freedom to consent without the risk of duress.

In the US you are still a minor according to law until you are 18/19 depending on the state.

You are talking grade a bullshit.

Yes I brought it up, but even in the uk if we lowered the age of consent what do you think would happen? Yes most people would carry on being normal good people but some men would think all their birthdays and Christmas's had come at once and be out there trying to get the youngest looking 13 year old they possibly could. Men across different cultures, though some cultures more than others.

That's why we have an age of consent. That's why we have these laws. The problem is the law. For the foreseeable future some men will always be a problem and we don't want dodgy cultural practices brought over here thanks very much.

And "leaving it to the states" is bullshit as well. I live in Texas and after November 7th many if not most family-planning clinics will be forced to close when they are no longer allowed to accept federal aid dollars for preventive care. It's a travesty. These narrow minded "Christian" republicans legislating what I do with my own body. Makes my blood boil.

I'm American and I personally think that it's shocking that there are not federal statutes to safeguard minors being coerced into marriage, or young teens too naive and stupid to know better. I'm all in favor of legislating childhood safeguards.

I'm also completely in favor of legislating firearms like fucking intelligent humans. The second amendment was passed in relation to belonging to a militia and carrying a ball and musket rifle. Not a damned glock.

Sorry Titania, it was YOU who identifying it as an issue in the muslim community,I was merely reaponding.

Shouting down people who disagree with you as unintelligent is pretty crass. I like my country free, thank you.

Trust me, the average californian is not marrying off their kids at 12. It's a problem amongst unintegrated comminities. If anyone in my church suggested marrying off their 12 year old, ild be contacting law enforcement. Statutory rape, soliticting children is a crime, and communities need to be dealing with it within existing laws.

Im happy to agree to disagree.

I just heard a podcast about a 14 year old girl whose religious family "encouraged" her to marry her 24 year old rapist when she got pregnant. The justifications the father made are just mind-boggling. He says he thought God would have wanted them married to raise the baby.

www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/idaho-father-takes-daughter-missouri-marry-rapist-article-1.2649752

Changing the marriage laws to 16 is hardly Orwellian. It's just fucking common sense.

What planet are you on? This isn't even about muslims, I brought that up as an anecdote. This is about America, the land of the free and the brave, having shit laws to protect children.

That weird young man was nearly a couple of years ago, if I had phoned up internationally I don't have his name or address and the laws in that state mean it's legal anyway. Laws used by Christian men. Please don't do the usual American on social media thing and try to blame your countries problems on muslims.

I thought Mumsnet was more intelligent than that.

Eroding long held and precious state independence because the muslim community is refusing to police themselves ain't gonna happen any time soon.

Yes, quiverful christians and other fundies are prone to young marriage, but BOTH of the participants tend to be young. Of course you will come back at me with some dysfunctional sect with abusive overtones, but it just isn't a problem amongst christians.

Go to the cops, tell them this man is talking about finding a 13 year old, get him on their radar. Do Your bit, before you go trying to change the last land of the free into some 1984 nightmare.

However distasteful I find early marriage, I dont agree with legislating it. The USA is a very different country to the UK. We do not appreciate the imposition of a nanny state, and there are certain states where personal freedom is held inviolable. Eroding the freedom of individual states makes me nervous

None of which should trump protecting vulnerable children.

A girl under the age of 16 (I would say 18) is incapable of giving consent because she is under the influence of family and culture, and not able to understand the implications of her "decisions". This has nothing to do with freedom.