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California bans child marriage, a practice still legal in 32 US states

83 points · 136 comments · dabinat

  1. NDlurker · · focus · HN ↗
    I don't get how child marriage can be legal. Like, yeah, they get permission from their parents. But does the fact that they're married negate other laws??? I mean, it's still rape. It's still like child abuse. Does marriage = emancipation?
    1. robocat · · focus · HN ↗
      Calling two midteens having sex "rape" or even worse "pedophilia" is plain abusive.

      I'm not talking about older men here.

      I'm saying that we need to be careful to avoid creating harm where there was none.

      1. kazinator · · focus · HN ↗
        Pictures of yourself constituting child porn, making you a felon, is likewise abusive.
        1. robocat · · focus · HN ↗
          I've seen a pattern of judgemental women and men saying they are thinking of the children, while not understanding or not giving a shit, just how much hurt they cause those same children.

          Our "justice" and "health" systems in New Zealand can cause lifelong harm to kids by black-and-white following the rules (at best, because wisdom is difficult or caring is risky).

      2. NDlurker · · focus · HN ↗
        Huh? Dude. The article is about a teenager marrying a 50 year old. I'm not talking about 2 16 year olds getting married.
        1. robocat · · focus · HN ↗
          You are just repeating the framing of the article. Next you'll mention a citation from a biased source.

          Tht article doesn't mention the majority of those marriages between 17 year old female "children" marrying male "adults" (that are 18, 19 or 20 years old).

          Children versus adults is a common framing, that is repeated by even the less biased sources such as the BBC or PBS: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pbs.org&#x2F;wgbh&#x2F;frontline&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;child-marriage-by-the-numbers&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pbs.org&#x2F;wgbh&#x2F;frontline&#x2F;interactive&#x2F;child-marriag...

          Crossing a legal line from a &quot;child&quot; of 17 to an &quot;adult&quot; of 18 doesn&#x27;t have the implications about real world differences in wisdom we might hope for.

        2. wallst07 · · focus · HN ↗
          Another comment pointed out that the article is sensationalist.

          If you bucket all the marries this law would affect, the 50 year old marriage is a far outlier. Most of the marriage gaps for these minors are &lt; 1-2yrs.

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