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"' CHILD - [STUDENT] MARRIAGE "'
GLOBALLY -88% of countries set 18 as the minimum age, but over half allow minor girls to marry with "parental consent," according to World Policy Center.
More than 700 million women alive today were married before 18, including some 250 million who wed before 15, according to the United Nations Children's Fund.
Most live in South Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, but as these new numbers show, too many live in the United States.
In the United States today, thousands of children under 18 have recently taken marital vows -mostly girls married to adult men, often with approval from local judges. In at least one case, a 10 year old boy was legally married.
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? The minimum marriage age in most states is 18, but every state allows exceptions under which children/students under 18 can wed. The first common exception is for children marrying with "parental consent".
Most states allow children age 16 or 17 to marry if their parents sign the marriage license application.
Of course, one person's "parental consent" can be another's "parental coercion," but state laws typically do not call for anyone to investigate whether a child/student is marrying willingly.
Even in the case of girl's sobbing openly while her parents sign the application and force her into marriage, the clerk usually has no authority to intervene. In fact, in most states there are no laws that specifically forbid forced marriage.
The second common marriage-age exception is for children marrying with judicial approval. This exception lowers the marriage age below 16 in many states, and many states do not specify minimum age.
Judges in those states can allow the marriage even of an elementary school student.
But judges would never do that, right?
Unchained at Last, a non-profit, -that this distinguished author founded - to help women escape from arranged, forced marriages, recently retrieved health department data on the ages of people married in New Jersey- where 16- and -17 year olds may wed with parental consent, and children under 15 may marry with judicial approval.
Unfortunately, the available records do not include any identifying details beyond the of the participants. Nevertheless, the data show that 3,499 children were married in New Jersey between 1995 and 2012.
Most were age 16 or 17, and married with parental consent, but 178 were between ages 10 and 15, meaning a judge approved their marriages.
Shockingly, 91 percent of the children were married to adults, often at ages or with age differences that could have triggered statutory-rape charges, not a marriage license.
A judge in 2006 approved the marriage of a 10-year-old boy to an 18-year-old-woman.
A judge in 1996 allowed a 12-year-old girl to marry a marry 25-year old man.
Based on my own experience," surmises the author, " working with forced -marriage victims across the United States, I am sure many of these children had to marry against their will."
Forced marriage is a widespread but often ignored problem not only in the United States but the world over.
A survey by the Tahirih Justice Center, an NGO that provides services to immigrant women and girls, identified as many as 3,000 known or suspected forced-marriage cases between 2009 and 2011-
Many involving girls under age 18.
**Tactics used against the victims included threats of ostracism, beatings or death.**
The Honour and Serving of this very important "Societal Research" continues. Thank you for reading and sharing; and see Ya all on the following one.
With respectful dedication to all the Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society.
"' Marriage-Magic "'
SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless
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