Advocates claim that because child marriage is still legal in the majority of US states, youngsters are vulnerable to abuse and the judicial system.
Unchained at Last, an organization that advocates for laws prohibiting child marriage, reports that since 2000, around 300,000 children have entered into marriage in the 12 states that currently have an 18-year-old minimum marriage age. Advocates caution that married adolescents have particular difficulties escaping poverty, are left open to emotional and physical abuse, and may find it difficult to access the services meant to shield victims of abuse.
Child marriage remains legal in most U.S. states, leaving minors open to abuse and vulnerabilities within the legal system, advocates say.
Only 12 states currently have a minimum marriage age of 18, and about 300,000 children have gotten married since 2000, according to Unchained at Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage. Advocates warn that married minors face unique challenges in breaking out of poverty, are left vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse and may struggle to gain access to the systems intended to protect abuse victims.
Jenn Bradbury is among those who got married before becoming an adult.
Bradbury, now 45, married a 44-year-old friend of her father when she was 16 years old, after what she told Newsweek was years of grooming that began when she was 14.
She said that when her father found out about the abuse, he blamed and tried to kill her, leading to her mother removing her from her father’s home in Louisiana and moving her to Florida, but the abuse did not end, Bradbury said.
The friend of her father continued to visit, providing a house phone and utilities for her family while she says he continued sexually abusing her, eventually leading to an ectopic pregnancy.
Bradbury says that her mother believed the only way to fix the situation was to have the two get married, so they did. Years of challenges would follow.
“The judge didn’t stop it. The clerk didn’t say anything. No one stopped it. They just let it happen because it’s allowed,” Bradbury said.
Child marriage remains legal in most U.S. states, leaving minors open to abuse and vulnerabilities within the legal system, advocates say.
Only 12 states currently have a minimum marriage age of 18, and about 300,000 children have gotten married since 2000, according to Unchained at Last, an organization that fights for laws banning child marriage. Advocates warn that married minors face unique challenges in breaking out of poverty, are left vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse and may struggle to gain access to the systems intended to protect abuse victims.
Jenn Bradbury is among those who got married before becoming an adult.
Bradbury, now 45, married a 44-year-old friend of her father when she was 16 years old, after what she told Newsweek was years of grooming that began when she was 14.
She said that when her father found out about the abuse, he blamed and tried to kill her, leading to her mother removing her from her father’s home in Louisiana and moving her to Florida, but the abuse did not end, Bradbury said.
She eventually ended her marriage, and she now advocates for state legislatures to amend their laws to outlaw child marriage. She has provided testimony regarding her experiences in Connecticut and Massachusetts, two states that have outlawed child marriage.
Every state continued to permit child marriages until 2018. Delaware thereafter took the lead in discontinuing the practice. A number of other states have done the same; Virginia being the most recent to do so in April. A bipartisan bill to outlaw child marriage is awaiting the signature of Republican governor Chris Sununu, making New Hampshire the next state to do so.
However, child marriage is still legal in most states, and in Missouri, a bill to outlaw the practice was not supported enough to pass the legislature earlier in May.
Child Marriage May Be ‘Frying Pan to Fire’ Situation
Child marriage is often “hiding in plain sight,” Casey Swegman, director of public policy at the Tahirih Justice Center, told Newsweek.
Children may be forced into marriages for many reasons, such as attempts to control female sexuality, “correct” a person’s sexuality or cover up statutory rape, she said, adding the issue affects all communities, regardless of religious background and socioeconomic status.
“When we think about a child who is entering a legal contract with an adult, an adult who has years more life experience, who better understands their rights and resources, you are entering an imbalanced relationship from day one, whether its forced or not,” Swegman said.
Some teenagers may view marriage as an escape from a home where there is addiction or unmet mental health needs, but they are “often going from a frying pan to fire situation,” Swegman warned. There is “almost always” sexual abuse in these marriages, which isolate children from family, teachers and friends.
“We see them being preyed upon by predatory adults who can recognize that vulnerability and take advantage of it. And then have 24 hour access to a minor under the guise of marriage,” she said.
There are many risks for individuals who enter into marriage before they turn 18. These children are often left with economic, physical, emotional and legal vulnerabilities, Hayat Bearat, interim director of the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University, told Newsweek.
Research shows children who marry before turning 18—most of whom tend to be in the upper teens as most states have some laws banning younger children marrying—face higher risks of domestic violence than those who get married as adults. They also are more likely to stay in poverty and less likely to graduate high school and find meaningful work as an adult, she said.
“Children that get married have a higher risk of having mental health issues. They might develop depression, anxiety. There are higher rates of suicide in children that get married,” Bearat said.
In an article titled “Caged by a Marriage, How the United States’ Immigration System Encourages Child Marriages,” which was published in the Drake Law Review earlier this year, Bearat outlined several of the risks—both physical and emotional as well as financial.
Married minors are 50 percent more likely to suffer from intimate partner violence or drop out of high school, according to the report. They also face higher risk of substance dependence and health issues such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes.
Married Minors Face Unique Legal Barriers
Children who get married before they turn 18 face unique legal barriers because they are not considered legal adults. They need permission from their guardian—either their spouse or parents, who may be involved in forcing them to marry—to access many of the systems they need to get help.
If their spouse does not give them permission, married minors may struggle to access education or health care, Swegman said.
“We are seeing lots of systems that you need to get out of an abusive relationship close their doors or feel not empowered to serve minors in these instances,” Swegman said. “These individuals are really spinning in circles.”
For instance, Swegman said she once worked with a client who was told she needed to obtain her husband’s permission to attend high school. However, she knew he was “never going to give her that permission.”
Children may also be denied social services or the ability to rent an apartment if they try to leave their marriage because they are not an adult and therefore unable to sign into a contract, Swegman said.
They may not even be able to access child protective services. Texas is the only state that has forcing or coercing a child into a marriage in their child protection statute, meaning a married minor has “fallen out of the mandate” of CPS in every other state, she said.
Fraidy Reiss, Unchained at Last’s founder and executive director, told Newsweek domestic shelters routinely turn away unaccompanied minors. If children try to run away from home to escape a forced marriage, police may return them because it is a status offense to leave home before the age of 18, she said.
“An adult in this situation might try to retain an attorney to help them figure out where do I go? What do I do? A minor can’t easily do even that because contracts with minors typically are voidable,” she said. “It’s a worthless piece of paper. And what attorney wants to take on a child as a client?”
In many cases, children aren’t even able to obtain a divorce or protective order against an abusive spouse due to the “nightmarish legal trap” child marriage creates, she said.
According to Bearat, states such as New York require an individual seeking a divorce to be declared competent to have the capacity to do so. But married minors seeking a divorce could be denied due to not being an adult, therefore not having that capacity in the eyes of the law.
Other states may require a parent or guardian to sign off on a divorce, but they may not be willing to do so if they are the ones responsible for the marriage, Bearat said.
While these children may face barriers to the legal system, there are still many ways for them to seek help, Swegman said.
They can reach out to organizations, such as Tahirih Justice Center or Unchained at Last, that can provide them legal and social resources, as well as help them understand their rights.
Married minors can begin the process by calling from a school counselor’s phone or a friend’s home if they have a parent willing to support them, or by sending an anonymous email, Swegman said.
Twenty-four hour hotlines are also increasingly knowledgeable about the issue and are able to connect them to critical resources she said. Swegman said survivors should not reach out for help on a device that could be monitored, as that carries the risk of escalation.
“While it is challenging, it is not impossible and no one is alone, and there are people that can help,” she said.
