Many Americans assume that the horrors of child marriage are reserved for third world countries with little governing over consent laws or marriage laws, but in all but 2 states, child marriage is legal through exceptions and loopholes in state laws. Sherry Johnson was 11 when she was first married off to a nine year groom, the same man who later raped her. Sherry is not alone, between 2000 and 2010, nearly 250,000 children were married off, almost always to partners much older than them. Now, Johnson's home state of Florida is working to pass a law that will set the minimum age of marriage to 18 with few exceptions. Florida is not the only state making strides to end child marriage, there are now five states in the process of passing laws to restrict the age of marriage. Child marriage is one issue that few Americans are aware of, but activist groups and individuals are fighting to not only raise awareness, but change the laws so no more girls or boys will be trapped in a marriage that they didn't consent to.
Click here to read the full story: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2018/feb/06/it-put-an-end-to-my-childhood-the-hidden-scandal-of-us-child-marriage ;
Why do you think this problem has gone unnoticed for so long?
I think girls and boys who are experiencing this issue rarely speak up because of their environment, and I think because the marriage is legal through loopholes it's not exactly a glaring problem in the law books.
What issues may arise from these exceptions being limited?
I think that couples who are under 18 will no longer be able to marry, which may cause issues such as a debate of how young is "too young" to get married on your own accord. Though, if strides can be made to limit the amount of young children being exploited, I think the laws are worht passing.
Replies
Good job overall! With only two pages of comments, I do think you could have commented a few more times. Also, ask me how to hyperlink correctly so the entire url doesn't show up.
I think the real question is why has it taken Florida so long to pass a law banning child marriage. You know, CHILD MARRAIGE? Honestly its no wonder that Florida has a stereotype of being the most backward and ridiculous state in the Lower 48.
I think is has gone unnoticed because the children are too scared to speak up because they are probably getting pressured into marriage at such a young age. Once Florida is able to pass the law children under 18 won't be able to get married, which may cause issues for those her aren;t of age. They may think it's not fair that the state gets to decide when you get married.
It is very true that people in the US do not notice that child marriage is a big issue. I think that it is a good law to put into place because it will help protect kids from being forced into marriages. However, some people might dislike the new law becasue they say that no age can be put on when someone finds the person they are going to marry. In my opion it is a great law and all states should take part in it.
I never realized that child marriage was this bad. I think it has gone unnoticed for a long time because it wasn't as much of a problem as they thought it was. Some Issues will be that some people will think they are too young to get married and/or that they don't have to be 18 to get married.
I think this problem has gone unnoticed for so long because people don't really speak up about it and isn't constantly brought up as a huge problem in the United States, when it actually is a big problem. I think that 18 is agood minimum because at 18 you are considered an adult and are probably more mature.
I didn't know that this was a problem in the United States. I didn't think anyone was able to do that. But I think this has gone unnotice because it's not very common and the laws aren't strict enough to prevent this to happen. And I think that 18 is a good age as the minimum, because your likely to be more mature at the age 18. At age 18 you are an adult and can make your own decisions. Therefore any age younger should not be getting married.
It is actually very common in the United States, more common then in other Countries a lot of the time, but because of the nature of the groups who force these girls to get married, they don't speak out a lot. Many of them are abused and bullied into silence.
Because it maybe has been done secretly and everybody didnt know that it would cause such a big problem. People who fell in love early will not be able to get married and they will complain aboiut the issue I think 18 is a good age because that is when you might move out and start going into the world as an adult and also be able to do other things.
Yeah I agree, even people under aged can't get married without parental consent(that's one of the loopholes the people who do this use to marry children) so not that many people get married when they're younger anyways. Young marriages usually end in divorce, anyways, and a lot of people feel that getting married under 18 isn't a good move responsibility wise too.
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