Children marriages are a harmful practice that has continued to thrive in the United States where young girls typically below the age of eighteen years are wedded to older men. The State Department greatly oppose child marriages in Asia and Africa, but unlike the situation limited occurrences in the two continent where teenage marriages are forced by poverty, some states in America legally allows for teenage marriages (Syrett, 2016). The states do not give a restriction on which marriage can be allowed but rather provides a set of conditions which when met marriage can be permitted for girls aged as low as ten years. This is evident in the marriage of Tyree at the age of thirteen years (Syrett, 2016). The practice is however backward and demeaning.
Marrying off girls is an option normally resorted to by the parents when a girl becomes pregnant. Tyree was frequently abused by her male nanny, but when she finally got pregnant, the parents married her off to the rapist (Manning & Cohen, 2015). This is mainly to shield the parents from embarrassment associated with teenage pregnancies. Besides, the parents also see it as a way of preventing their daughter from difficulties associated with being a single mother. The practice, however, has very many negative effects. The girl is extremely young and not mature for marriage creates a dilemma on how she will handle a husband and marriage life. This type of marriage is also associated with higher levels of domestic violence compared to normal marriages as the girl would tend to fear the man because of the age difference making her vulnerable to abuse.
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Conclusively, the negative impact of the act has seen it attract opposition in the recent past. The state of Delaware recently outlawed the marriage of underage girls with no exceptions (Kirdar et al., 2018). The constant efforts by the activists through organizations such as ‘Unchained at Last’ has prodded the legislative houses to examine the issue carefully. The remaining states are also considering reviewing the laws regarding teenage marriages (Kirdar et al., 2018). This is seen as a flash of light at the end of the tunnel.
References
Kırdar, M. G., Dayıoğlu, M., & Koç, İ. (2018). The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey. Journal of Human Capital , 12 (4), 640-668.
Manning, W. D., & Cohen, J. A. (2015). Teenage cohabitation, marriage, and childbearing. Population research and policy review , 34 (2), 161-177.
Syrett, N. L. (2016). American child bride: a history of minors and marriage in the United States . UNC Press Books.
