Ohio’s marriage laws allowing underage teens to marry are too liberal and create potential for exploiting young girls, said an advocate for organization that’s called for ending child marriage.

Ohio requires teen girls to be at least 16 and males to be at least 18 before they can legally marry but allows for younger pregnant girls to wed with the permission of parents and juvenile courts, the Dayton Daily News has reported.

The newspaper found that more than 4,400 girls age 17 or younger were married in Ohio between 2000 and 2015, including 59 who were 15 or younger. Three were just 14.

Ohio’s child marriage laws outdated, advocate says – Dispatch