Between 2000 and 2021, approximately 3,663 children were married in West Virginia, making it the state with the highest rate of child marriage per capita. In Colorado, 2,240 marriage licenses involving a minor have been issued. Nearly 300,000 minors, the vast majority of them girls, were legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2018, according to a 2021 study. The total number of child brides and grooms worldwide is 765 million.
In the United States, a child marriage is a marriage in which at least one party is under 18 years of age—or the age of majority. Within the United States, each state and territory has its own laws prohibiting marriage for all persons under the age of eighteen without exception. New York became the sixth state to successfully ban child marriage in 2021, prohibiting marriage for all persons under the age of eighteen without exception. Other states draw a line at 14, 15, or 16. In New Hampshire, a law that has been on the books since 1907 allows girls as young as 13 and boys as young as 14 to marry. In Massachusetts, girls can legally marry.
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 1,400 civil society organizations committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfill their potential. Colorado is one of 18 states that allow children of any age to wed, with those 15 and younger can marry with a judges’ approval, and those 16 or 17 can marry with either judicial or parental consent.
📹 Why does the US have so many child brides? – BBC News
Angel was 13 when her mother forced her to marry and start a family. “I felt like a slave,” she says of her childhood.
What happens to a child bride?
Early marriage hurts girls. Child marriage stops her childhood. Girls are forced into adulthood too soon. Child brides are often denied their rights to health, education, safety, and participation. Also, arranged marriages often mean girls marry older men. Girls who marry young are less likely to stay in school, which has long-lasting economic consequences. They are often isolated. They are at higher risk of violence. Child brides are also at greater risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, contracting HIV/AIDS, and suffering domestic violence. At 13, Aisha was forced to marry a man 20 years her senior. She is now a mother of two. We lived together, but we didn’t get along because he was older.
What is it like to be a child bride?
Child brides often get pregnant when they are teenagers, which increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Girls who are married young often lose contact with their families and friends, which can have a negative effect on their mental health. To stop child marriage, we have to understand why it happens. The reasons for child marriage vary from country to country and culture to culture. Poverty, lack of education and poor health care also contribute to it. Some families marry off their daughters to help them financially. Some families marry off their daughters to secure their future or protect them.
Gender roles and the risk of pregnancy outside of marriage also keep the practice going.
Can 10 year olds get married in California?
The minimum age to marry varies by state. Seven states have no minimum age. UNICEF USA is working with Unchained at Last to end child marriage in the United States. Eleven U.S. states have banned marriage before 18 with no exceptions. California could be next.
Ask your elected officials to end child marriage with no exceptions. Child marriage violates children’s rights. Janette was 14 and in ninth grade in Southern California when she met her future husband, who was 21. Her mom let him sleep on the couch. I wondered why he was there. Next thing I know, I’m at his place, said Janette, now an activist working to end child marriage. I know now. She got me.
How many 12 year olds get married in the US?
Most children were 17. Some were 16, 15, or 14. Only a few were 13 or 12. Every state except New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan, Washington, and Virginia allows underage marriage in certain cases.
A court clerk or judge must give consent. The parents or legal guardians of the minor must also give consent. If one of the parties is pregnant or has given birth, or if the minor is emancipated, then consent is not needed.
Can a 13 year old date a 15 year old in Colorado?
“Close-in-age” exception. In Colorado, it is legal for minors to have sex with someone less than four years older.
Minors under 15 can have sex with someone less than four years older;
Minors 15 or 16 can have sex with someone less than 10 years older.
Marriage exception. Married couples can have sex in Colorado regardless of age or age difference. Colorado doesn’t recognize common-law marriage if one partner is under 18.
Note that 16- and 17-year-olds can marry in Colorado only with their parents’ or legal guardians’ consent. Minors under 16 must also get the judge’s approval.
Can a 10 year old get married in the US?
As of April 2024, the lowest age for marriage in states with a minimum age is: Four states have no minimum age. Two states have a minimum age of 15, and 23 states have a minimum age of 16. In the United States, a child marriage is a marriage in which at least one party is under 18. Each state and territory and the federal district sets the marriage age. In March 2024, four states had no minimum age, including all exemptions. These are California, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. As of April 2024, 12 states have banned underage marriages. In 2018, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania banned underage marriages. In 2020, Minnesota and Rhode Island did the same. In 2021, New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont followed suit. Connecticut and Michigan did the same in 2023. Washington and Virginia will do the same in 2024. American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands also ended child marriage. Other US states have similar bills pending.
Are there still child brides in the US?
Many children and teenagers are legally married in the United States each year. A 2021 study by Unchained at Last found that almost 300,000 minors got married between 2000 and 2018.
Can a 15 year old get married in Colorado?
The minimum age for marriage varies by state. Colorado allows marriages at any age. A marriage between teenagers aged 15 and younger must be approved by a judge and a parent. Sixteen-year-olds need a parent or judge to sign off on the union.
Where in the US can you get married the youngest?
Two states have a minimum marriage age of 15, and two have the lowest minimum age of 14. Massachusetts and New Hampshire have the lowest minimum marriage age.
Which country has the youngest marriage age?
Sudan had a different policy about marriage age. Muslim children could get married at puberty. Non-Muslim children could only marry after they were 13 or 15. In late 2020, Sudan changed the legal age for marriage to 18, outlawing child marriage.
📹 Child Marriage Around the World: USA — Katie
Married at 16 to a man nearly as old as her father, Katie Burns built a loving relationship that has lasted for eight years. Voice of …
Almost as soon as I turned 13, my mom told me to drop out of school and get married. My mom never made it past elementary school and got married as a young teen. But even after being in one dysfunctional/abusive marriage after another, it was like she wanted me to follow in her footsteps. I was being raped already by my own dad. I eventually ran away from home, I graduated high school and became the first person in my family to get a college degree. When I finally married I was 30 and married the man I fell in love with. We’ve been together 15 years now. To this day I am considered an embarrassment in my family and am not welcomed to family gatherings. I was even left out by my family at funerals. This is the part of America people don’t know about.
My home country Germany changed the law in 2017. People can only get married if they are 18 years or older, no exceptions. Before it was possible to marry with 16 under certain circumstances. I firmly believe that setting the age of marriage so that only legal adults can marry is the only right choice. All other options open the door to possible abuse of minors.
If you aren’t old enough to be trusted to sign your own permission slips, you aren’t old enough to make the decision to get married. If people were allowing emancipated minors to get married, that would be one thing, but putting them in the most adult situation with the most adult responsibilities in life without giving them the legal rights of an adult is insane. It defies all logic.
This is heartbreaking, but I want Anglet to know that in relation to what you can do with your life with jobs, age is just a number. An achievement at age 18 is the exact same as one at age 28. When you’re old and grey no one will care what age you graduated uni or became a doctor or whatever. You still have time to do all those things girl.
Never marry any girl to someone until she wants because one day, she will find someone who will be a good husband to her. Girls and women should always get respect as every religion says that whenever a girl is born in a family she is a blessing given by God to the whole family. Don’t ever consider her a burden as she might become better than a son one day.
LOL… PEOPLE ARE SO IGNORANT… u always talk about other countries specially middle eastern one to have this, have that etc… BUT when its in your one Everyone instead of trying to fix it points fingers.. The ignorance here is amazing Ps: if u say they dont represent most american people, the same goes to other countries…!
People saying that they were unaware of this problem. I don’t know what bubbles you’re living in, but here in Kentucky this is a relatively common practice. Many pregnant girls end up married here before the age of 18 as a way to preserve the family unit, values and reputation. My great grandmother was 14, my grandmother 17, my mother 19, my best friend’s mother 15 or 16. Granted we were one of the dark red states on that map, but it is a prevalent problem and one more common in religious and conservative communities.
this is so shocking, even here in Brazil there are more restrictions, the minimum age to get married is with 16 (if you have the consent of both parents), and when you turn 18 you are considered a legal adult so you can do whatever you want. i can’t even imagine being forced to marry a man at eleven and having SIX children before even turning 18, this is truly horrifying
Married at 14 here. My moms idea mostly. 6 pregnancies by 21, 2 of them miscarriages. Im 36 and have a 20, 18, 16, and 15 year old kids. He was very abusive to me. He didnt speak my language, so i learned his. I am a better person for things ive learned but i recognize that it was very painful for me.
She was 11 and she had to marry her rapist? What has the world become? How is this possible? I can’t even imagine the pain, it must have been unbearable. It is ridiculous enough that this country let children get married, but for the parents to force them like that? Those are monsters. And America call themselves a developed country? HOW??
Arranged marriages, closed community’s, young people forced into a religious lifestyle with no chance to get out Yes that’s all in the US just one example is the Hassidic Jews in Brooklyn, but there is many more society’s that take away human rights from their youths and the government is well aware of their existence, sometimes even protects them
Same shit, different places. A qoute from MaximBady, “like a pot calling a kettle with an iPhone, you’re a black, youre a black!”. Pointing fingers is really fun, let’s do the really horrendously difficult option, we really must ganged up to literally STOP these awful practices when we really wanted to propagated humanely across the realm.
It’s extremely hard on the body to give birth so young, it’s difficult enough when a woman is mature, and there is always the chance of the mother dying. Those who say it’s not so bad actually want the practice to continue because they envy the man having a virgin of their own to rape and breed, and marriage to the rapist is an OLD, OLD custom to avoid the scandal of being unmarried and pregnant. To some parents, the scandal of an unwed mother is more shameful than the fact their child was raped or cajoled into sex with someone they trusted. Realize that parents who do this do not care about the child put into this situation as much as their public image. Age of independent consent is NOT the same as getting married with parental consent. As the BBC points out, in many places a girl can be as young as ten. And it has been notoriously difficult to persuade state legislators to close this loophole — from both GOP and Democrats alike. It’s a loophole for pedophiles and rapists and one never knows when cousin Billy Bob Joe knocks up some girl he forced and rather than him going to jail, he gets to legally keep having sex with her. It’s very much about women being the property of their parents and transferring the ownership to the men they are forced to marry. It’s about control, and too many men and a lot of women think the current situation is just fine.
Immigration is not an excuse. If we are speaking in that way then almost all of the people in America are immigrants. The question I raise is why is the government not making it illegal all over? I am from Nepal and I can understand why we would have things like that. Illiteracy, economic problems, a lot of poor people etc. And the country is a developing country. America is called the capital of the world. My question is why aren’t they banning this?
NO Adult…No Matter What their Profession… NO matter what title they hold… NO Matter What economic Status,… NO Matter What their Culture… NO Matter what race, Creed,, or Color, NO ADULT wheather, they are a Adult Caretaker of children, teacher, parents, aunts, uncles, or anyone else, should have any sexual attraction to children, this is very disturbing to me, Very Strange, Odd, Demented, Sick, Weird, and Outrageous to me. *THERE IS NOTHING about a child, male, or female is attractive sexually, Nothing *Children are children as should be treated as such. *They are NOT mature *They have NO COMPREHENSION of Sex. They have NO COMPREHENSION of Romance *Sex and intimacy is in nature biologically is designed for Adults, NOT CHILDREN. I Cannot Comprehend any Adult thinking of a child a such a inappropriate manner. *This is a previous response I wrote to an article on Child Marriage; I don’t understand why anyone would attempt to marry a child, this is unthinkable, children are not capable of Romantic Relationships, they cannot process adult Relationship lifestyles. *They are children and function as children, they are being placed, and forced in adult Relationship situations, and they cannot process nor understand it until they are Adults. *Nothing about a child is capable of handling a Romantic Relationships, Physical Relationships, Mentality handling Adult Relationships, and Lifestyles and financial matters. *A Child cannot understand the Deeper Matters of the Hearts, or Deep involved Love connections etc.
My brother got engaged to a 16 year old when he was 10 years her senior. They “did everything right” by waiting until they were married to consummate the relationship. But she was still seventeen when that happened. My family felt as though they could not stop it because he was an adult and tried their best not to burn bridges and her family is the creepiest group of people you ever met. They supported the relationship and pushed for it. To me, he is no longer my brother and when I can, I likely see myself moving far away so I never have to see him again.
I have a maid, she was really carrying in this year it already been 11 years she worked for us, she never had a chance to go to the secondary school, she only been to an elementary school because when at her time girls can’t go to school but have to marry and take care of the kids, she said she feels like slave because in her country man does not work at all only girls do it all rise a family go to work find money, then she decided to work overboard as a maid and she met us, when first I met her i was like 4 years old, she really good in everything and always help me with math she said she really missing going to school and study, she loves math very much and also she loves to learn new language, I teach her english so that if one day she finally have enough money and already achieve her goals she can go to the western country for travelling. She always reminds me every time when I almost give up with studying learning she always says to me go to school,learn as much as you can so that you will not be like me and she always said it with a tears . She really have the dessire to go to school and learn lots of thing eventho shes already 50 she still have that ambition
In India the minimum age for marriage is 18 and 21 yrs respec. for women and men. But sadly: UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India, which makes the country home to the largest number of child brides in the world — accounting for a third of the global total. Nearly 16 per cent adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married. -IndianExpress (Aug 15, 2020). indianexpress.com/article/explained/pm-modi-74th-independence-day-women-empowerment-marriage-age-6555937/
To all those defending this by saying “Oh but this doesn’t happen everyday. Its worse in the middle east (or any other country for that matter).” Its not about how prevalaint child marriages are over there. Its about how America still doesnt have a set minimum age for marriage (something even 3rd world countries have). This just goes to show the arrogance and hypocrissy of the Americans. Americans need to learn to practice what they preach. Cuz boy how they LOVE to preach!
I live in the northern US, and I’ve never seen this happening. Of course, traditions and beliefs vary extremely widely across this large country, and I’m shocked and disturbed by these things happening. From the wiki: “Unlike most Western countries, 20 of the U.S. states do not have a legal minimum age of marriage. Individuals aged 18 have the ability to marry in U.S. states except Nebraska and Mississippi. In addition, all states, except Delaware, allow minors to marry in certain circumstances, such as parental consent, judicial consent, pregnancy, or a combination of these situations. Most states allow parties aged 16 and 17 to marry with parental consent alone. In most states, children under 16 can be married too.” We need to pass a federal law limiting child marriage.
I’ve lived in Idaho for my entire life, it’s something that is NEVER talked about. This actually has inspired me to see what I can do to help others petition for a minimum age. There are age gap rules for sexual assault etc, but the idea that a young, impressionable mind can be convinced that it’s okay and for legislators to not even question it is sickening. Tradition my a** this is planned abuse and past morality and needs a BIG crackdown.
This shit happens everywhere. Im irish and My sister in law was abandoned by her mother ( my mil) as a young child and sent to live with her aunt and uncle. Now this was only in the 80’s but there she lived life as a slave. beat, abused, starved and made to take care of her 13, yes 13 cousins. Her mother came back into her life on and off, with various men, one of whom took advantage of my sister in law at the age of 15, and because of this she was forced to marry this cretan and her life of abuse continued from there. She is free now from the abuse and is such a kind and beautiful person despite the shit she went through. Again my point is this shit happens everywhere
Me and my Wife were forced into a Child Marriage when I was 16 and she was 15, we ran away from home we worked in the Night and studied in the day but thankfully we pulled through and are happily married for 10 years now I completed my studies and am a beaurocrat now and she is working towards her doctorate and have a 5 year old baby girl
In every US state you have to be at least 18 years old in order to get legally married by yourself. In most US states the minimum age to get married is 16, but it MUST be with parental consent. Fun fact, the state with the lowest marriage age of 13 is one of the most progressive states in US. No surprise that California doesn’t have a minimum age either.
Okay, so I don’t think the way to fix this is to change the age in which you can marry. But rather, change the fact that parents can chokse to “marry off” thier daughter. I mean I know girl who got married at 16 willingly and they have healthy, loving relationships that have lasted many many years. My own mother and father in law married when they were both 17. Also my mom was 20, but my father was only 17. My husband and I were 18 and 19 the day we got married so we JUST were of legal age. I totally disagree with not letting them get married if they are in a committed relationship. However, the problem is these horrible parents forcing thier child to marry. Why doesn’t someone just ask the son or daughter if this is what they want… then believe them… And not allow the marriage unless both husband and wife actually want the marriage… Problem solved!
the description here isn’t actually correct. The federal age of marriage is 18, with some states allowing marriage at 16 or 17 but only with parental consent. It’s really really uncommon to see kids getting married today. In some rural areas they may still hold ancient outdated ideals, but it’s truly not that common. And obviously it’s wrong for children to get married or have children.
Why is that in many villages and many urban areas the girls are considered to be a burden and boys are considered to be kings? Tons of money is spent on a boy’s education as if the parents are training their sons to be kings in their lives and as a result, 70% boys are found to have no interest in studies whereas 90% girls like to study and every girl knows that education is the best field for her because education can make her achieve anything she wants. Then why the books, pens, are taken away from girls and wedding accessories are handed to them as if marriage will provide her a lot of happiness, satisfaction and freedom. Even today many parents do not ask their daughters that if she wants to get married or not. They just give her a deadline age of getting married and then fix her wedding with someone whom she doesn’t even know and it turns out that 70% women face domestic violence by their husbands. That’s why women need to be educated and become financially independent before getting married because when you educate a girl, you educate an entire generation. To all those boys and men who will think that I hate men. No, I don’t because I’m a boy too but I just don’t understand that why many men always consider themselves stronger, superior over women. Why they just can’t consider themselves equal to women? Why there can’t be equality between the two?
The fact that People around the world don’t realize how Huge this is and how far back it goes also don’t realize our grandmother’s weren’t considered Free unless they got married also during their time it was so common for young teens to marry men that are almost 30 ITS NOT BEEN AS LONG AS YOU THINK ITS BEEN SINCE WE STARTED GETTING RIGHTS AND NOW THEIR TRYING TO TAKE THEM AWAY AGAIN!
I had no idea that America was so barbaric! Wtf!?! 😱 It’s like America has joined the ranks of third world countries! 😡 This is insane! No way in Hell would I have ever allowed my child to get married before age 20!!! Even then I’d be giving 150+/- questions to my child to sway her from marriage before she first became the best version of herself to know for certain that he is someone she is ready to spend the rest of her life with.
just a side note, delaware is now the ONLY American state where you have to be 18 to legally marry with no exceptions.EDIT: sherrys hope of having an age minimum passed in florida, along with many other states, i believe the ages for many states is now 16 & 17. steps forward, but its still a huge unknown problem occuring.
I know we have this legalized at young ages in US states, but I wonder how hard other countries enforce their laws. It seems either tied to religious fundamentalist groups, or impoverished rural subcultures. I knew a girl in 7th grade who was pregnant at 13, engaged to her 22 year old boyfriend… her mom was “fine with it”, apparently. Rural Pennsylvania.
i’m pretty sure there are a number of other western countries where it is legal with parent’s permission to get married earlier than 18. the problem with the USA is, that it actually happens, and that is, because in the USA christianity makes people’s lives often quite miserable and instead of getting help, pregnant teenagers are often forced into a marriage by their parents. a second reason might be the weak social system, that has little to offer for pregnant teen girls. therefore marriage seems to be the most pragmatic solution. as always, the problem is not the marriages, the problem is the whole shit that makes marriage an option.
When a 15 year old boy gets a 14 year old girl pregnant, they should get married and take responsibility for their child. They’re old enough to start learning responsibility. This documentary is acting like the child marriage laws enables an old pedophile to marry a child, which is not true. We have age of consent laws and most are either 16 or 18. If an adult has sex with a minor, they will be charged with statutory rape.
People think ‘with parental consent’ makes it ok but it’s often used to just get rid of the older girls because the parents are afraid she might have sex at a normal age to become sexually active. It’s often part of a cult with extreme views against women. Usually those views include men making all of our decisions for us. First with the father, and then with a husband. Unfortunately for them, many girls turn 18, leave, and nobody can legally make them come back, if they don’t already have children and a spouse. However when they are already married and/or have children, divorce and custody battles make leaving and not returning very difficult. Big impossible, but difficult. Basically child marriage is a thing to make sure that teen girls never have a chance to be under their own authority.
God loves you. I was betrothed at 15. God has fought my battles. Never give up on your education. You have to set yourself free and God will bring justice. Parental neglect and a lack of education of societies all over the world can cause this problem in society. I thought it was a big problem in India which is a 3rd world country.
Fake news. I will admit though that my mom was married at age 16 to my dad at age 18 in the 1964 era. Mom is and always was the boss. You must understand that these things ended at about the mid to late 1970’s. And there are a few loop holes where some did get married in only three known states who might have allowed it under special circumstances between the 1980 and 1983. Those states were New Mexico, Florida and Arkansas. Even in the mid 80’s to it could have only happened by couples lying or using fake ID’s and birth certificates which were a big thing from the massive serge in photo-copying machines being placed in shopping centers and stores at that time. Then again in the 1992-94 fake documents made online using the internet along with computer based photographic scanners and copying machines. There are still laws stating the ages of 13 to 16 as being legal in several states, but that is only because those older laws are not in step on paper with the federal laws in the books and have been overlooked. Does not mean it is done. They will not marry anyone under 18 everywhere with exception to or without a Judge determination based on parents signature, living conditions, on grounds of being pregnant and they must go through a class and counseling. And that is at age 16 -17 as a few State Law levels. The Federal Law is still 18.
The answer to that question is American woman don’t find it a problem . There is a culture of a woman getting a free ride or a meal ticket in America and mothers enjoy the power and pageantry of the wedding and being a mother inlaw with grand children on the way. The idea is give your daughter the best possible future with out doing any work just give her to a man to take care of .
transcript: Angel: I was just a little girl wanting to have a boyfriend or something like that and my mom turned it into something way different. Sherry Johnson: First is putting the handcuffs on him at twenty years of age, they actually put the handcuffs on me at eleven. Ange: When I got married I had just turned thirteen, we stood in my living-room and in this ugly dress my mom bought off the internet and shortly after getting married she encouraged us to just start having kids and that’s why I had my first son when I fifteen. It was a way for me, I think, to be dependent on her. My ex, he was extremely abusive to me and I was very confused because this is the only guy I had ever been with so when he started shoving me all that stuff when I was pregnant I thought “this is my life, how could this be?”. I felt like I was in slavery to it, I was a slave to my ex, I was a slave to this idea that my mother wanted for all of us to all be together and to have kids so young and to do that. I still have all this emotional baggage of wanting to have done something with my life by now. It’s really all the time that I think about what I could have done or could have been. Maqbool: we’re here in Idaho talking about Angel’s story because this state has one of the highest rates of child marriage anywhere in the country. Now the rules are different for each state but in twenty-five of them there is no set minimum age below which a child can’t get married, even all the other states where there is a minimum age set it can be as low as thirteen or fourteen years old.
So, this little lady whose name is: Kathrine burns from Dyersburg Tennessee married her husband at 13 years of age. They were friends at first, then they dated which led to marriage. She seems to keep up with the daily chores, the teeth need cleaning, other then that, this little lady takes her marriage seriously, by means of keeping the household. Don’t neglect your education just in case.
This has nothing to do with child marriage! She wanted him first as a boyfriend and still loves him without being pressured or anything like that. She sure was more mature for her age to decide to be with him and also have a baby etc. The title of the article is very misleading. So she was 13-14 when she met him and years later they became a couple. so she was definetly not a child anymore at all but with 16 or something a young woman. Again this has nothing to do with child marriage. She seems very happy and also their daughter. And yes maybe hes much older then her but ist not like he “old” he still lookes young. Just from the article I see a happy family and a child in a stable home.
The concept of childhood is seen differently throughout the world. There is no western childhood for most of the people on earth, it is an artifact of the Christian Victorian era. Countries that were never dominantly Christian never had that outlook of childhood. Rather the children are adults in training. And that is why university students in other countries don’t need to be babysat. I feel sorry for this young woman, only because she is living in a country that already had female empowerment and the reduced wage labor that is a result of it. Now she is a working mother, the vast majority of women who marry as children are stay at home mothers who can survive at a normal economic rate as the other people in their society while only their husband works. They can feed many children with just a single income. This woman cannot do that.
If an 18-year-old man comes to you and says he’s getting married, you’d question his decision-making skills. You’d think he’s getting married too early. Similarly, if an 18-year-old woman tells you that she’s getting married, you’d ask her to do a “reality check” and may be even discourage her by telling her she’s too young, and she should go to college or build a career. \r \r Even though 18 is the legal age most countries, does anyone today really believe that an 18-year-old is ready for marriage? \r \r Does “one size fits all” really work for determining a minimum age? Should the fact that girls mature earlier than boys be taken into account? Or, should we just ignore biology and make it the same for both girls and boys in the name of “equality”? \r \r The minimum age for marriage has been increasing worldwide. In all pre-modern traditional cultures, it wasn’t unusual for girls to consummate marriages between the ages of 10 and 12 and that was considered normal back then, but not today. No one found it surprising to marry a 10- to 12-year-old girl. In fact, if you read your great-grandmother’s biography, you’d be shocked and surprised to see how young she was when she got married! But that was the norm. \r \r In modern societies, girls are highly discouraged from getting married early, even at 18. Early marriage is considered bad. They’re told that education and careers are far more important and beneficial for a young woman than marriage and having children. Movies and TV shows constantly show career women as happy, smart, and successful, and house wives and homemakers as miserable and losers.