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California bans child marriage, a practice still legal in 32 US states
BBC • • nation
Key Points:
- California will ban child marriage starting 1 January, requiring individuals to be at least 18 to marry, closing a loophole that previously allowed minors to wed with parental and judicial consent.
- Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law alongside Courtney Stodden, who was controversially married at 16 to a 50-year-old actor and has since advocated to end child marriage.
- Survivors like Brittany Bee and Sara Tasneen, who experienced abuse in underage marriages, praised the law as a vital step to protect minors from systemic violence and predatory relationships.
- Prior to the law, California had no legal minimum age for marriage and no divorce mechanism for minors, leading to thousands of child marriages annually, mostly involving girls and adult men.
- California is the 18th US state to ban child marriage since 2018, reflecting a growing national movement to end the practice and raise awareness about its harmful consequences.
