California still allows child marriage—why won’t lawmakers act?

California remains one of just four US states with no minimum legal age for marriage. As a result, children can still be married to adults. This continues even as lawmakers have introduced bill after bill to end the practice leaving advocates and survivors with a question. Why won’t California pass simple, common-sense legislation to make the marriage age 18, no exceptions? 

A stain on California’s human rights record 

Since 2010, in San Diego County alone, more than 100 marriage licenses were issued involving minors. Officials in the state even signed off on a marriage between a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old.  

And the problem extends far beyond one county. According to Unchained at Last, nearly 315,000 minors were married in the US between 2000 and 2021. About 35,000 of those marriages took place in California. In most cases the couple included an underage girl and an adult man. Repeatedly, bills introduced aiming to change the law have failed. 

State Senator Wahab told CBS 8  

We’ve heard every single excuse to not protect children, and that’s what bothers me in a so-called progressive state. We don’t even allow people under the age of 25 to rent a car. We don’t allow people under the age of 21 to drink, people under the age of 18 to enlist in the military. Marriage is a serious commitment, and often a lifelong one; those under 18 need to be adults to make that choice. 

Advocates point out that most Americans assume the minimum marriage age is already 18. Instead, only 16 states and Washington, DC have full bans. Thirty states still allow child marriage with exceptions. Shockingly California is among the four with no age limit at all. And although judges are required to interview minors and guardians before approving licenses, advocates say that safeguard falls far short. As minors have no legal standing, they can’t easily file for divorce. They also cannot retain their own lawyers or stay for long in domestic violence shelters without the consent of an adult. And concerningly, marriage can also act as a loophole around statutory rape laws, allowing abuse to continue under legal cover. 

“Who’s enforcing the safety of the kids?” 

San Diego resident Brittany Bee was forced to marry at 17 to a 24-year-old church member. Today, she lives with trauma and flashbacks. Now she’s an advocate for reform, saying countless children remain trapped in similar situations. Likewise, Mandy Havlik says she was pushed into marriage at 17 after years of coercion. She recalls asking for help and finding none. No one intervened. No agency stepped in. Instead, the system and the adults around her enabled the harm.  

Havlik said: 

No one called CPS; no one tried to stop it. People did not boycott my wedding. There were a lot of people who were complicit in this action, and that’s the unfortunate part. You know, children are already vulnerable, but when you’re advocating for help, as I shared with you, I exhausted every option that I potentially had available. But, my parents had the ultimate say.

Both women now work with Unchained at Last. In 2024, they joined dozens of advocates in Sacramento, wearing wedding gowns to demand change. However, once again, the bill failed, marking the fifth unsuccessful attempt to ban child marriage in the state. For Bee and Havlik, quitting is not an option. And as Senator Wahab prepares to draft new legislation for a sixth attempt, survivors and advocate groups including Freedom United will continue to organize. Sharing survivor stories, pressuring lawmakers, and raising awareness. 

Forced child marriage is a pressing issue that disproportionately affects girls, placing them at significant risk of exploitation and forced marriage. Whilst not all child marriages are forced, the inherent vulnerability of children, particularly girls, makes them susceptible to coercion. Take action by demanding that every state in the US raise the minimum age of marriage to 18.