Tag : Child Marriage
Child Marriage Poses Serious Risks to Children
Author: Tahirih Justice Center
Publication: November, 2019
This resource, created by the Tahirih Justice Center’s Forced Marriage Initiative, compiles existing research on the harms of child marriage into a convenient one-pager, useful for advocacy and education on the issue of child marriage in the United States.
Child Marriage in America: An Interim Solution Pending a Total Ban
Author: Raquel Wildes Genet
Publication: August 2019
This article provides legal and historical background on the state of laws allowing for child marriage in the United States, and goes on to examine the arguments for and against eliminating marriage under age 18 without exceptions. The author makes recommendations for policy changes, taking into account both protective measures and perceived political feasibility.
Alone without a Home: A National Review of State Laws Affecting Unaccompanied Youth
Authors: National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, and National Network for Youth
Publication: February, 2019
This report provides a state-by-state review of laws in 13 key issue areas affecting the lives of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. Topics include status offenses, emancipation statutes, health care access, consent and confidentiality statutes, and juvenile justice system statutes.
State Regulations Are Failing Our Children: An Analysis of Child Marriage Laws in the United States
Author: Rachel L. Schuman
Publication: May 31, 2019
Laws allowing for child marriage have a long history in U.S. and common law, but are currently receiving increased scrutiny from advocates seeking to prevent the documented harms of early marriage. This article examines whether Congress could legally promote the implementation of a uniform marriage age across states using precedent set in South Dakota v. Dole. Read more.
Protection Versus Rights: Age of Marriage Versus Age of Sexual Consent
Authors: Suzanne Petroni, Madhumita Das, & Susan M Sawyer
Publication: December 5, 2018
As many governments worldwide have raised the legal age of marriage to 18 years, some are also considering raising the age of sexual consent. Without close-in-age exemptions, arguments to align the legal age of sexual consent with that of marriage would restrict the ability of adolescents to legally have sex. The authors find that, because the consideration to marry and to have sex are very different, the minimum ages need not be aligned.