Map Shows US States Allowing Child Marriage After Colombia Votes to Ban It
Colombia's government voted Thursday to ban child marriage , after previously allowing those as young as 14 to get married.
The law, pushed forward under the slogan "they're girls, not wives", would make 18 the minimum age for marriage , although it still needs to be signed into law by President Gustavo Petro.
"Minors are not sexual objects, they're girls," Congresswoman Clara López Obregón said following the vote.
UNICEF believes around 12 million girls under age 18 become brides each year, with around 640 million women alive today who were child brides.
While numbers have fallen worldwide in recent years, parts of the United States still allow marriage at any age or as young as 15.
According to Unchained at Last, a group working to end child marriage, over 300,000 children as young as 10 have been married in the U.S. since the year 2000.
States including New York, Michigan, Washington and Virginia have banned child marriage, setting the minimum age to 18, in recent years.
In 10 states the minimum age is 17, in 20 it is age 16 and Kansas allows marriage at 15. California, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma have no minimum age.
Unchained believes at least 60 percent of child marriages since 2000 would be considered a sex crime, due to the age gap. Many others were used as a way to navigate immigration law loopholes, such as American girls being forced to marry adult men from overseas.
In Colombia, the new ban is seen as a victory after years of advocacy by groups including Equality Now, which said nine previous attempts had failed.
"By removing the legal pathway for children to marry, the law encourages families and communities to prioritize education and personal development for girls," the group said in a press release. "This not only improves their long-term economic prospects but also strengthens their ability to assert their rights."
While the legislation was important, Equality Now said its enforcement was critical in ensuring child marriage was eradicated in the country.
In the U.S., while the Department of State calls marriage before age 18 a "human rights abuse", a federal ban has not been enacted. The country is the only United Nations member to have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which would enshrine more protections for those under 18.
Human Rights Watch released a scorecard in 2022, looking at the disparities between different states, with none receiving an A or B grade, seven got a C, 27 a D, and 16 an F. Those with lower grades typically had fewer restrictions on child marriage.
