What is Child Marriage?
Child marriage is the marriage of a minor below the legal age of majority, which in most countries is 18. Girls are the most vulnerable and most likely population to be forced into marriage before 18. Child marriage severely jeopardizes girls’ health and robs them of education and economic freedom. It also increases their risk of domestic violence.
Given these factors, one case of child marriage is one too many.
What is Child Marriage?
Child marriage is the marriage of a minor below the legal age of majority, which in most countries is 18. Girls are the most vulnerable and most likely population to be forced into marriage before 18. Child marriage severely jeopardizes girls’ health and robs them of education and economic freedom. It also increases their risk of domestic violence. Given these factors, one case of child marriage is one too many.
Child Marriage is a Reality in the U.S.
Even though the U.S. Department of State recognizes all marriages before 18 as a human rights abuse and condemns child marriage in the rest of the world, child marriage is widespread and legal in 38 states in the U.S.
An estimated 297,033 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 (source: Unchained At Last).
38 states are failing to protect girls from child marriage. They have dangerous loopholes and exceptions that allow for child marriage. Some even have no minimum age for marriage.
Delaware and New Jersey both banned child marriage in the summer of 2018, leading the country in protecting girls from this human rights abuse.
Some common legal loopholes that allow for child marriage include: (1) parental consent; (2) judicial consent; (3) an exception allowing for marriage in the case of pregnancy.
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William & Mary Law Professor Vivian Hamilton has extensively studied the devastating effects of child marriage in the United States. In her 2012 report, “The Age of Marital Capacity: Reconsidering Civil Recognition of Adolescent Marriage,” she finds that:
Marriages entered into before the age of 18 have a 70-80% likelihood of ending in divorce;
Women who marry before 19 are 50% more likely to dropout of high school than their unmarried counterparts and 400% less likely to complete college;
Women who marry young are 31% more likely to live in poverty later in life than women who delay marriage;
Women who married at 18 or before had a 23% greater risk of disease onset, including heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.
Child Marriage is a Reality in the U.S.
Even though the U.S. Department of State recognizes all marriages before 18 as a human rights abuse and condemns child marriage in the rest of the world, child marriage is widespread and legal in 38 states in the U.S.
An estimated 297,033 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 (source: Unchained At Last).
38 states are failing to protect girls from child marriage. They have dangerous loopholes and exceptions that allow for child marriage. Some even have no minimum age for marriage.
Delaware and New Jersey both banned child marriage in the summer of 2018, leading the country in protecting girls from this human rights abuse.
Some common legal loopholes that allow for child marriage include: (1) parental consent; (2) judicial consent; (3) an exception allowing for marriage in the case of pregnancy.
William & Mary Law Professor Vivian Hamilton has extensively studied the devastating effects of child marriage in the United States. In her 2012 report, “The Age of Marital Capacity: Reconsidering Civil Recognition of Adolescent Marriage,” she finds that:
Marriages entered into before the age of 18 have a 70-80% likelihood of ending in divorce;
Women who marry before 19 are 50% more likely to dropout of high school than their unmarried counterparts and 400% less likely to complete college;
Women who marry young are 31% more likely to live in poverty later in life than women who delay marriage;
Women who married at 18 or before had a 23% greater risk of disease onset, including heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.
William & Mary Law Professor Vivian Hamilton has extensively studied the devastating effects of child marriage in the United States. In her 2012 report, “The Age of Marital Capacity: Reconsidering Civil Recognition of Adolescent Marriage,” she finds that:
Marriages entered into before the age of 18 have a 70-80% likelihood of ending in divorce;
Women who marry before 19 are 50% more likely to dropout of high school than their unmarried counterparts and 400% less likely to complete college;
Women who marry young are 31% more likely to live in poverty later in life than women who delay marriage;
Women who married at 18 or before had a 23% greater risk of disease onset, including heart attack, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.
AHA Foundation advocates for a hard minimum age of marriage at the age of majority in each state, which is typically 18, with no exceptions.
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