‘I was handed to a complete stranger’: the survivors fighting to end child marriage in 37 US states — and the people who want to keep it legal
Child marriage, which activists describe as one or both parties entering a union while under age 18, remains legal in 37 US states. There are no federal laws against it, meaning minors can marry, with parental consent, before they can vote, drink, or buy lottery tickets in the majority of the country. Some states have a minimum marriage age on the books, which ranges from 15 to 18. Four states – California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Mississippi – do not specify any minimum age at all.
Many survivors say they felt trapped in their marriages. Some, like Kosnik, must rely on their spouses for financial support. Others are up against complicit parents, who sign off on forced unions. In many states, statuatory rape is not a crime within marriage, creating a legal loophole that entices predators and increases the likelihood of sexual abuse. “Child marriage can be seen as a workaround for child rape,” said Fraidy Reiss, founder of Unchained at Last.
The US government calls child marriage a human rights abuse and has committed up to $5.3m to prevent it “in regions, countries, and communities where interventions are most needed and most likely to achieve results”. American exceptionalism would lead people to associate these regions with the global south, not the US, Gupta says. “Of course it’s prevalent here, too.”
Close to 300,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2018 in the US, according to a study conducted by Unchained at Last; a small number of them were as young as 10. Because 78% of minors who wed in that timespan were girls with adult husbands, advocates frame their cause around saving underage girls from older men.
The US having child marriage is one of the many shitty things about this country. We must change this urgently. It's fucking shitty and serves no greater purpose.
Pedophilia, slavery, and corpo-kleptocracy: the pillars of American patriots
Sometimes, when I think of this, I think about that civil war they want.
Instead, the Republicans are now pushing for an end to no fault divorce.
Of course it serves a greater purpose, in the eyes of those who are in favour of it, otherwise they wouldn't want to keep/extend it.
Keeping women and girls in subservient vulnerable positions, and men satisfied and in positions of power (even if it's only within their own home, where they get to then take their rage and frustration at having no real power elsewhere out on their wives and children), is what the patriarchy is all about.
It also serve capitalism, in that the girls in these marriages are much more likely to be kept in the abusive relationship and have more kids than average, kids who will become workers (E: with both parent and children being home schooled by their respective parent or "educated" by the church, making them more easy to manipulate and exploit).
It also serves christofascist white supremacy, which has manufactured racist nonsense like "the great replacement" theory to ensure fundamentalists only marry and reproduce within the group, ensuring its survival.
None of these things are bugs, they are features of these systems, and until as a society we confront that, we will never be able to tear them down and be free.
Things are (way too slowly) getting better:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_the_United_States
How the hell does California, a relatively progressive state compared to many of the other US ones, still allow child marriages? I’m sure it’s those pockets of deep red outside the big cities.
I looked it up, the ACLU said it "unnecessarily intrudes on the fundamental rights of marriage without due cause" and fought prior attempts to legislate against it. Planned Parenthood were against it because they said it was a slippery slope that might affect abortion rights (I didn't see rational for this supplied but assume they have some)
So it wasn't Hollywood as the other poster glibly asserted, actually movies like 'childbrides of the ozarks' were important in brining it to popular attention and helping initial pushes against it. Currently there are democrats pushing for legislation to ban in, supported in many case by the 'evil Hollywood elites' as seen from conspiracy theory world as they're big donors and fund raisers for democratic causes but also ACLU and PP so possibly yeah they were slightly involved in the ban being resisted but not in the way suggested.
The ACLU have since chances their stance on child marriage, I imagine planned parenthood have too but I couldn't find that stated. Most current resistance is coming from religious focused Republicans.
Yep, that’s on brand for sure.
Hollywood. Think about it.
Blessed good news.
I really have to wonder who is down voting this comment.
Sometimes I upvote/downvote posts and comments on accident while scrolling... I might be giving people too much credit though.
Happens to me too. When I notice, I'm mortified.
Same for me! The majority of the times I've noticed it is when I happen to scroll past the same post/comment a second time, so I wonder how many I haven't "corrected it"?
There is some very pathetic person who goes through my post history and just downvotes every comment regardless of what is said, meaning they have downvoted me doing things like telling someone I sympathize with them or even just me thanking someone. It's bizarre. People think internet points matter on Lemmy when they didn't even matter on Reddit where a tally was being kept.
Did a quick run through of your last two days and it’s all different people.
Or is it different troll accounts that keep getting banned?
Could be that too lol.