California has raised the legal age of marriage to 18, officially joined the growing list of US states that are standing up for children’s rights by banning child marriage—without exceptions.
Until now, California was one of three US states with no minimum legal age for marriage. Between 2000 and 2021, nearly 315,000 minors were married in the US. Nearly 35,000 of those marriages took place in California. Thanks to years of tireless advocacy and several legislative attempts, no child in California will be forced into a marriage they cannot legally escape.
This is a critical win in the nationwide campaign to end child marriage across the U.S. Eighteen states down, thirty two to go! Every state that steps up strengthens the movement.
Let’s keep going. Every child, in every state, deserves the same protection.
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