‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

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

83 points · 136 comments · dabinat

  1. jmyeet · · focus · HN ↗
    Let me describe a few ways why child marriage should be prohibited without any exceptions anywhere:

    1. When a minor marries someone of age, their spouse becomes their legal guardian until they become of age (or become emancipated, which is a difficult process generally). Why is that an issue? Well, in abuse situations, it can be incredibly hard for the minor to leave their spouse who is their legal guardian. It's not much different to runaway children being returned to their parents, even when their parents are the source of the abuse. Certain states are worse for this than others, so called "reunification states" where they will absolutely try and return you to your legal guardian unless there's clear and convincing evidence why they shouldn't;

    2. A lot of child marriages happen so an adult can escape a statutory rape or rape charge as prosecutors don't tend to prosecute when it's a spouse. It should be noted that spousal rape only became a crime in all 50 states of the US around 2005 (IIRC) and this only really picked up steam around 1990 or so;

    3. Because of this lack of power, it creates a whole host of other problems, such as exploitation to the point of trafficking.

    Politically, preserving child marriage is a uniquely Republican issue [1].

    [1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rollingstone.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;politics-features&#x2F;republican-lawmakers-child-marriage-abortion-1235018777&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.rollingstone.com&#x2F;politics&#x2F;politics-features&#x2F;repu...

    1. em-bee · · focus · HN ↗
      When a minor marries someone of age, their spouse becomes their legal guardian until they become of age (or become emancipated, which is a difficult process generally).

      that sounds totally wrong. not as in you are wrong, but as in this reality is bad. apparently, according to wikipedia at least in some US states, marriage automatically emancipates a minor, but not in massachusetts.

      1. enoint · · focus · HN ↗
        I think it’s factually non uniform. In some states, you must be emancipated or qualified for emancipation before you can marry.
        1. em-bee · · focus · HN ↗
          yeah, that&#x27;s fine. what i am concerned about is a woman ending up in the custody of her husband (or vice versa). that&#x27;s just messed up.
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.