Oklahoma closes child marriage loophole, but medieval-era laws still exist across US
Activists who survived child marriages (Photo: Getty Images)
Oklahoma has officially banned marriage for persons under 18, eliminating all existing legal exceptions. The state became the 17th in the US to impose a complete ban on child unions without any compromises, but the problem remains relevant for what seems to be a civilized country, reports Newsweek.
The state senate passed the document unanimously, and the ban takes effect on November 1. In the House of Representatives, heated debates took place among Republicans. In the end, supporters of the ban won by a margin of just one vote.
Due to the old federal system and 19th-century laws, some states still have loopholes for marrying an underage girl. Permission can be granted by a court or simply by parents. If an adult man obtained a marriage license with a child, criminal liability for intimacy with her simply disappeared.
The UN considers child marriage a gross violation of human rights. And the data from the organization Unchained at Last, which fights child marriage, is shocking.
Statistics for the last 26 years in the US:
- Nearly 300,000 children as young as 10 officially entered into marriage.
- The majority of them were girls.
- The spouses were typically adult men.
As recently as 2017, such weddings were legal in all 50 states. Over ten years, only 17 states and Washington, D.C., have raised the age limit.
In other parts of the country, loopholes still exist. California, Florida, Texas, and Illinois remain among those where child marriage is still possible. In some of these states, there is no minimum age at all!
Moreover, in some of these states, there is no lower age threshold whatsoever! It is one thing when, by court order, teenagers with a reasonable age difference decide to marry, especially due to pregnancy and with parental consent. It is quite another when an adult man in the 21st century in a civilized country has the ability to essentially "buy" a girl by making a deal with marginal parents. And all of this is completely legal.
What about child marriages in Ukraine and the EU?
Europe and Ukraine have the strictest possible rules. The European Union has been pressuring governments for years to set the age at 18. Germany, Denmark, and France have already closed all doors to underage marriages. The UK did so in 2023 to protect girls from coercion.
In Ukraine, the rules are ironclad: the general marriage age is 18. Only a court can lower it, and only to 16. No exceptions exist for 14- or 15-year-olds, even in the case of pregnancy. If a 40-year-old man goes to a Ukrainian court with the parents of a 14-year-old girl to ask for marriage, it will amount to a "self-report" of a crime.
A judge in such a situation is obliged to immediately call the police. In Europe, the same principle of the best interests of the child applies. Any financial arrangements between parents and an adult "groom" are classified as human trafficking. Civil law or "family consent" never overrides a criminal offense.
