A 2018 report suggests that globally 12 million girls marry before the age of 18 every year.
Child marriage is usually associated with developing countries — in sub-Saharan Africa (40+ countries), e.g., on average, 40% of women marry before age 18.
In South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.), on average 30% women marry before age 18.
Far less known is the prevalence of child marriage in America where 207,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2015.
While America’s diplomats are active in international efforts to ban it abroad, only 4 states (as of August 2020) out of 50 have banned underage marriages without any exceptions.Some states permit child marriage with exceptions such as parental consent or approval by a judge and/or in case of pregnancy.
In 13 states (as of Jul 2019), there is no minimum age; many states allow parties between the ages of 16 and 18 to marry with parental consent alone.
One of the biggest reasons for the prevalence of child marriage in the US (on average, 6 in 1000 minors are married) is that there is no federal law regarding child marriage.
And since marriage age and laws governing underage marriage are set by each stateState here means State, Territory and federal district., states with relaxed laws become destination wedding spots for minors.
Rates of underage marriage are high in southern, rural states where poverty and religious conservatism are high.
This could be because lawmakers believe that prohibiting underage marriages may be seen as curbing religious freedom — a highly sensitive issue for a multicultural society.
And religious conservatives in some cases are said to see marriage as the solution to teenage sex and premarital pregnancy.
Also, in many states, it is common for a rapist to avoid legal proceedings against him if he agrees to marry the girl and her parents are supportive.
Landlords’ resistance to rent houses to minors (and laws defending their resistance) could be another reason.
Because minors in abusive families can’t find places to stay, they marry to escapeAnd, more often than not, end up with an abusive partner. the abuse.
Some Americans believe that a blanket prohibition would stop the union of high school sweethearts but the study of 207,000 married minors (point 4 above) shows that a vast majority of child marriages were between an adult man and a minor girl.
