I don't understand why America still allows child marriage.

What the fuck? This is news to me, and its disgusting news.

Hi OP,

I haven’t managed to track down the article about the politicians who strengthened the legal case for child marriage. From memory one of them was part of a Christian sect who have high levels of child marriage.

(Not to derail the thread OP, just throwing that in as an adjacent issue that many people might not know about.)

The US also allows child labour: www.hrw.org/report/2015/12/09/teens-tobacco-fields/child-labor-united-states-tobacco-farming

seneca thanks for that! Will do some research into her work, I am glad she has been able to campaign so well but wish she hadn't had that experience as a child.

Unfortunately I think the status of child marriage as horrific in a lot of states (and even at a federal level) is being argued against by the fundy christian lobby. The same groups who encourage giant mega-families of 20+ children, who are all "educated" read: brainwashed into believing that this view is legitimate and who grow up to vote a specific way, work in politics and law (the males) and have their own epic brood of brainwashed voters (the women).

It's all very depressing

Well done that woman.

On a human interest note, Sherry Johnson, the woman mentioned in the article linked in the OP, who was forced as a child to marry in Florida, worked hard for the recently enacted legislation and was in the gallery when the Florida Legislature passed the bill. She has vowed to continue working for reforms in other states.

Legal child abuse and exploitation. Slavery. Revolting.

No, it is certainly not just a Bible Belt issue. And one of the biggest Bible Belt states, Texas, has recently enacted one of the strictest laws, limiting marriage of anyone under 18 to emancipated minors. And while many people might not readily think of Florida as a Bible Belt state it actually is and much of it is culturally, as well as geographically, very Southern.

I agree Seneca.

What surprised me was there seems little consistency in which states have no minimum age and which have 16 or older.

I'd have assumed that the northern, eastern seaboard states would have a minimum age as would the western seaboard. Whereas for example Alabama is 16 , South Carolina is 16 and Tennessee is 17 but California, Pennsylvania and Maine have none and New Hampshire is 13/14.(assuming this wiki article is correct)

If it is , it seems a bit simplistic as some posters have done to refer to it being a "bible belt" problem. I certainly would not think of California, Maine, New Hampshire and Pensylvania as "bible belt"

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_marriage_in_the_United_States?wprov=sfla1

Also, just to add, laws dealing with the age at which teens can make decisions about important matters should for the most part be consistent in my opinion, which is why I support lowering the drinking age in the US to 18. In Scotland, 16 and 17 year olds can vote in local and Scottish parliamentary elections so there is some recognition that important rights begin at 16.

I also generally support advancing rights for 16 and 17 year olds, and some of the bright lines that are drawn at the majority age of 18 in the US can be to the detriment of girls. The problem with the marriage laws in some states is that girls were being forced into marriage and that men who had essentially sexually abused them were getting off the hook by marrying them. Florida has to some extent crafted a law that parallels its Romeo and Juliet exception to statutory rape (older teens close in age), and has eliminated any exception that is tied to pregnancy. The law is a step in the right direction in protecting young girls, but the rights of older teens to self-determination can be a problematical issue in crafting these laws.

I don't think 16 and 17 year olds are children.

I think it has the potential to be oppressive and potentially implications for accessing contraception and abortion.

Lass why don't you support an increase in English law age limits? Would that be oppressive, do you think?

In 2014 in England and Wales 200 women in age group 16/17 and 40 men in England were married.

I can't find statistics for Scotland.

Semantics in important here, too. When people in the US talk about child marriage, they generally mean anyone under the age of 18, which is the age of majority in all states (also a matter of state law). So by that understanding, child marriage is legal in the UK as well for 16 and 17 year olds (and without parental consent in Scotland)

That is- correct 16 in England and Wales with parents' consent. 16 in Scotland, no parental consent needed.

I don't support an increase in those ages.

What seems particularly insane about some of the state laws is that pregnancy is actually given as one of the reasons to allow child marriage! Because it's clearly far worse to have a single mother or allow an abortion than to marry a child to her rapist.

The laws on child marriage have been a disgrace in the US for a long time. The reason that change on a national level would be very difficult is that the Constitution of the United States, in its division of powers provisions, essentially makes marriage laws the province of the states. Changing the Constitution is a very cumbersome process.

The more likely avenue is doing it state by state, which is happening, although much more slowly than I would like. Delaware recently became to first state to institute an absolute ban, making marriage under the age of 18 illegal. My own state, Florida, has the next most stringent law, enacted earlier this year. In Florida the age for marriage is 18, with one exception: 17 year-olds can marry with parental consent, but to no one more than two years older. Just as an observation, that makes Delaware and Florida actually more protective of people under the age of 18 than any of the countries in the UK.

Other states have recently enacted laws that limit the exceptions to marriage of minors, though none are as stringent as Delaware and Florida. Activists are working to make changes in many other states.

Semantics in important here, too. When people in the US talk about child marriage, they generally mean anyone under the age of 18, which is the age of majority in all states (also a matter of state law). So by that understanding, child marriage is legal in the UK as well for 16 and 17 year olds (and without parental consent in Scotland).

As an American, I definitely did not know this until I saw it on Mumsnet a few months ago. I had heard of states where the age of consent for marriage is 18, or 16 if there are other circumstances. (I think this is the same as England and Wales.) I think the issue just hasn't had much publicity and a lot of people don't know about it (hence accusation that OP was lying). Look at Kristof's exclamation at the end of the first section -- he know his American readers will be surprised.

I have never heard about any special reason this would be hard to change. Obviously marriage, like most things, is a matter of state law, so that makes it complicated enough.

Melanippe you must have great schools around you if one year can increase IQ by 10 points. . . don't know where to start with that post.

When men talk about "states rights" in the US this is one of the rights they wish to protect. The white man's right to abuse with impunity.

Awful.

Anyway, I believe it’s Delaware that’s legislated it into oblivion. So yay for Delaware. Hopefully it will catch on.

It’s the Bible bashing lobby. Obsessed with legitimacy. There was a new NYT article recently that alluded to the rationale.