The practice of child and forced marriage is a human rights violation with dangerous repercussions and it should be banned throughout the country. Up until 2017, child marriage was legal across all fifty states and currently, only eight states have laws banning child marriage with no exceptions (Vermont was the most recent on 4/20/23). While the actions these states have taken are important, there is an enormous amount of work still to be done to protect children from child and forced marriage. A 2020 poll discussed by UNICEF USA showed that half of respondents already believed that child marriage was illegal in the United States. This lack of awareness on the issue and clear belief that it is a practice that would warrant an illegal status is of importance.

Child marriage is not only a human rights violation that robs affected individuals from any agency to make decisions about their lives and to fully access their education, but it also disproportionately affects young girls and women. Boys under the age of eighteen can also be victims of child and forced marriage, but, according to UNICEF USA, 86% of child marriages involve the marriage of a girl to a significantly older male. Furthermore, the fact that between 2000 and 2018 more than 300,000 children were married before their 18th birthday is extremely alarming (UNICEF USA). These facts demonstrate a dire need for legislation barring this practice from occurring to our nation's youth.

Any legislation banning child marriage, such as Massachussetts’s 2022 elimination of child marriage, needs to include language that does not allow for any exceptions (i.e., parental consent and/or judicial approval). In other words, no child under the age of eighteen should be married under any circumstances in the United States. Child marriage has numerous negative consequences that can be avoided by adequate legislation. It has links to increased poverty, lower educational attainment, higher risk of health complications (since there is a higher chance of child pregnancy), and a higher vulnerability to violence and abuse (UNICEF USA).

The U.S. government is aware of and advocates for an end to child marriage around the globe. In 2014, on the International Day of the Girl, former President Barack Obama called child marriage a “threat to fundamental human rights.” Unfortunately, there is still a lack of recognition of the prevalence of child marriage in this country and we are far away from ending the practice altogether. Especially given the inclusion of ending child marriage in Goal 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, there is a clear desire and need for action on this issue.

As a country we cannot wait to address this issue any longer. Every day children are at risk for child marriage and the dangers associated with it and we cannot continue to put our children in jeopardy. Millions of American children would be protected by making a federal law that would eliminate the practice of child marriage with no exceptions. Legislation banning marriage under eighteen at the state level has been significant in the seven states that have done so, but action at the federal level would be advantageous and protective.