England Bans Child Marriage as It Remains Legal in the United States

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However, the same cannot be said about the United States. In real-time, Congress has yet to pass a clean bill at the federal level that bans child marriage across the board. Even at the state level, anti-child marriage bills continue to struggle.

In West Virginia, lawmakers in the state Senate narrowly blocked a bill that would have banned marriage for anyone under the age of 18 without exceptions. Coincidentially, West Virginia also suffers from some of the most elevated rates of child marriage in the United States.

The legislation that did pass in the West Virginia state legislature permits marriage for 16 and 17-year-olds.

The dangers of child marriage

Child marriage’s inherently insidious nature can’t be overstated. It is well-documented that child marriage often protects predators who’d otherwise face statutory rape laws amid sexual contact with minors.

Here in America, the very existence of child marriage breaks 14 different states’ laws on statutory rape.

Our nation’s leaders cannot profess to care about children and protecting children, while allowing them to be married off to adults if the right people sign pieces of paper. For the sake of protecting children and stopping predators, Congress must pass a federal ban on child marriage with no exceptions.