@Regranned from @goddess_of_the_land - Girls as young as ten are among more than 200,000 children wed to adults in the United States in just the past 15 years, as — despite minimum requirements a person reach the age of 18, or legal adulthood, nationally — a smattering of locations have preserved loopholes legally permitting child marriages. “At least 207,468 minors married in the US between 2000 and 2015, according to data compiled byUnchained At Last, a group campaigning to abolish child marriage, and investigative documentary seriesFrontline,” The Independent reports. Exemptions from the national marriage minimum age of 18 exist for circumstances like pregnancy and parental consent — in every state in the country. However, record-keeping remains inconsistent across the country, and details regarding the nature of child marriages — if unintended pregnancy made the union tenable, for instance — usually aren’t included. Data for the state revealed just under 3,500 youth — largely 16- and 17-year-olds — wed adults between 1995 and 2012. The youngest children to marry were three 10-year-old girls in Tennessee in 2001, who were married to men ages 24, 25 and 31, according to state data. The youngest groom was an 11-year-old boy, also in Tennessee, who married a 27-year-old woman in 2006. Children as young as 12 were granted marriage licenses in Alaska, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Tennessee. “Thirteen-year-olds were given the green light to marry in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.” Most states set the age of sexual consent between 16 and 18. A person can be charged with sexual abuse or statutory rape for having sex with a minor. Yet, we found numerous examples of children who were given marriage licenses before they could legally consent to sex. These marriages were almost always approved by court clerks and JUDGES.” In 26 states, there’s no minimum marriage age,according to the Tahirih Justice Center. Children in those states can get married at any age if certain conditions are met.” #stoppedophilia #stoppedophiles #staywoke - #regr
