California Outlaws Child Marriage — and the World Keeps Its Eyes on How It Plays Out

California has become the 18th state to prohibit child marriage without exception. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bill AB 1267 on Sept. 30, setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage in the state with no exceptions.

This law does away with rules that let young people wed with their parents’ permission and court approval. It also gets rid of the separate rule that allowed young people to form domestic partnerships. Before this law took effect, there was no set minimum age for marriage in California at all.

Who Pushed the Bill

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin wrote the bill, which was sponsored by Unchained at Last and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law with Courtney Stodden present. Stodden became a prominent voice against child marriage after her parents allowed her to wed 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison when she was 16.

After the bill was signed, Pellerin spoke about it, saying “The heart of this effort has always been the survivors” and “Because of them, California children are safer.”.

The Long Campaign Behind It

After years of campaigning by survivors and advocacy groups, the signing marks the achievement of their long-running push to ban marriage before 18 in the state.

Unchained at Last estimates at least 66,415 of those marriages — about one in five — occurred when the bride was at an age when sexual relations would be considered a crime. That age varies from 14 to 18 depending on the state.

Global Numbers at Stake

The U.N. calls child marriage a “human rights violation,” citing risks including early pregnancy, social isolation, interrupted schooling, limited career advancement and risk of domestic violence. It estimates that 12 million girls become child brides every year.

The U.N. notes child grooms may be forced into “an adult role for which they are unprepared,” with pressure to drop out of school and support a family. The U.N. has set the goal of ending child marriage by 2030.

Where Else the Law Has Changed

Since 2021, countries including Sierra Leone, England, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic have passed legislation setting the marriage age at 18, with no exceptions.

In India, marriage before reaching legal age 18 is against the law, yet the National Family Health Survey shows that one in five women aged 20 to 24 were married before they turned 18. According to UNICEF, at least 1.5 million girls under age 18 enter into marriage in India annually.

The Federal Fight

The Child Marriage Prevention Act was introduced on July 16, with U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin and Sens. Dick Durbin, Brian Schatz and Kirsten Gillibrand all signing on as sponsors. The bill is designed to address child marriage by encouraging states to adopt a national minimum age for marriage. That age threshold would be set at 18.

In a statement, Moore said: “In 34 states, including Wisconsin, child marriage is legal. Many of these marriages are between young girls and adult men. It’s time we end this predatory practice.”

Four members of Congress backing the bill pointed to figures showing over 314,000 minors got legally married in the United States between 2000 and 2021, with girls as young as 10 among them.

The founder of the organization, Fraidy Reiss, says that within that subset of state statutory-rape laws, marital exemptions kept the adult spouse from being prosecuted in roughly 90% of those cases.

What Survivors Lose

A married minor can encounter legal obstacles when attempting to hire a lawyer, file for divorce, or get protection from abuse.

The Partner Behind the Federal Bill

Tahirih Justice Center has played an important role in shaping and backing the federal legislation. According to Casey Carter Swegman, who directs public policy there, “The best thing that we can do to help the global movement is to get our house in order.”

Swegman points out that a child’s outward sign of agreement does not always show a free choice, noting that family pressure can put a young person at risk of punishment or harm within the household.

Where the paper stands

The paper backs the bill’s sponsors Unchained at Last and the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and is against any office gathering more power to enforce its own mandates on private life. The ban on child marriage in California removes a legal loophole that let courts approve unions of children, and it ends a separate rule that allowed young people to form domestic partnerships. That is a step toward smaller government and less control over people’s lives.

The paper supports this step because it pushes decision-making back toward the citizen rather than leaving it to an agency or a court. The ban eliminates the need for permission from a parent or court, which is a step in the right direction.

The paper wants to see more states follow suit, and it wants the federal Child Marriage Prevention Act to succeed, though it watches carefully how that bill is written and who writes it. The paper also wants advocates to keep asking whether existing laws actually stop child marriage, pointing to India where marriage under 18 is illegal but remains common.

Source material: “A new California law bans child marriage. What's the global outlook on the practice?,” NPR.

California law · child marriage · global outlook · survivor advocacy · UN goals